Non Est as Astra Mollis e Terris Via
by Steelhistory
Summary: A young Kerbonaut fresh out of internship, must survive after a tragic accident takes place.
1. A note before reading:

A few notes before you begin reading:

This story is assuming that the player does not use "Revert Flight" buttons.

This story assumes that the kerbals have not yet reached the Mun yet.

This story is Fan-Fiction about a game with very little lore. It won't be perfect.

I'm not adding "K" to everything related to Kerbals, because that's just annoying.

This story assumes that the Kerbals do not write in english.

Please, sit back, grab a beverage, and enjoy.

Non Est ad Astra Mollis e Terris via

(There is no easy way from the earth to the stars)


	2. The Discovery

Prologue - The Discovery

"Perhaps a bit to the left? Nope. Just that ball of light again."

He wrote something on a Piece of paper with his quill that looked like a large red 'X'

"I keep telling thine, but no… 'There hath to be something else out there', thou say. well I'll keep doing this, but thy result is the same. there's nothing."

He rotated the telescope a bit down.

"Nothing. Not a single thing. not even-"

His words were interrupted by a sudden gasp. The gasp came from his own mouth.

"Well I'll be."

He stood up, and stared at the object in the sky, writing something massive on the same piece of paper. It looked important. His face beamed with a mix of excitement and embarrassment, but mostly hunger. He threw the quill back into the vial of ink, and bolted for his coat, tripping on some books that had been strewn across the room. As he exited the room, he slammed the door with such ferocity, the wall tumbled down behind him. It didn't matter though, as it was there as a temporary housing, one that was themed like the fourteenth century, so that when they found another planet, they wouldn't feel too bad about themselves for having been so late about finding it.

He ran through a suburb, until he reached the bus stop to Western Kerbal University, But was kicked off because he didn't have a dollar-fifty. So, he "borrowed" a bicycle from a nearby House, and rode three miles until he realized he was heading east. After he kicked over a trashcan and threw an acorn at a tree in rage, he began off in the correct direction.

He arrived at the office of Wernher Von Kerman, The lead expert on extraterrestrial planets. He knocked at the the door before Hearing,

"Come on in."

He did such, and upon entering, found himself in front of one of the most massive telescopes he had ever seen. It had a width of about two meters, and required a chair about one meter high to see through the eyepiece. There were about four cleaning boys working to make it shine. On the other side of the room, it resembled a more classy establishment. There was a Mahogany desk, with all the knick-knacks of a proper desk. Behind it was a large painting, depicting a Kerbal holding a hollowed out squash over his face, and pouring its contents onto himself. The description read 'The discovery of water'. Wernher looked over his shoulder, put on his characteristic smile, and walked over.

"Ah! Friedrich! How goes the search, my boy?"

Friedrich walked up to him and motioned to come over. Wernher, nodded, motioned at his helpers to continue cleaning, and walked over.

"Sir, I have three things to report. First, my name is Fred, not Friedrich. Second, I believe I have found a planet."

"A WHAT!?" Wernher yelled, making the cleaners nervous.

"A planet, sir. I've found one," he replied, hands shaking.

"What's the third thing then?" Wernher asked.

"Lunch tomorrow was canceled."

Wernher took off his glasses, Rubbing his sweaty forehead.

"What?! How could they do this?"

Fred looked nervously around, then said,

"Because wednesday was also canceled."

Manfred opened up his mouth to say something when he was interrupted by a cleaning boy.

"Sir, do you want this off the big telescope?"He held up a massive lens cover. "I took it off of the telescope to clean it."

"No, no, Leave that on." Wernher said. "I need to find out why I can't see out of the darned thing, also, I have important matters to attend to. You are all dismissed."

All the Kerbals left the room except Fred, Wernher returned to his desk, And said,

"Well I guess you know what this means. You've been with me long enough to know that we need the Kerbin Parliament to kick enough funds our way to build a space center, not to mention that we need to find as many willing volunteers as possible."

Wernher stood up.

"Can I count on you Freddy?"

Fred Shook his head at the nickname, then said,

"You always can sir."

They shook hands and Wernher said,

"Good. Make it so. Or whatever the kids are saying these days."

He left the office, holding a letter addressed to the Kerbin Parliament, With the Highly important stamp of importance upon its seal, thinking to himself,

"_let's go make history"._

"_And return that bike"._


	3. New Beginnings

Chapter 1 - New Beginnings

_It had been four years since the discovery of the Mun, and three years since the construction of the massive space center complex that now occupied one of Kerbin's largest peninsulas. It involved some of the most high tech hardware available , as well as recruiting some of the most well trained Kerbals on the planet. _

_This is what they taught at the training academy, in reality, the complex had about four buildings, and the 'high tech hardware' was junkyard parts that were thrown together with duct tape. But the new pop-culture craze of 'looking up' was an added bonus for volunteers. The only well trained one was the leader of the show, Gene Kerman. But aside from all of this, the one good thing about being a mere intern at the Center was the experience, from the other's mistakes. Mainly three by the names of Jebediah, Bill, and Bob Kerman, whose popularity was only outmatched by their ability to survive any crash. They were the one the little Kerbals looked up to, and the one everyone wanted to be. But, Our story is not of these heroes, but rather, another one, by the name of Sonrey. Sonrey Kerman. But his story is already unfolding, and faster than he knows._

"_Adjust your takeoff vector to point oh-zero-niner"_

A young Kerbal runs down a hall, nearly tripping on his own feet.

"_Rog. What exactly is an 'oh-zero-niner?"_

He skids to a stop, and rests near a window with a view of the launch pad.

"_A technical term. I felt like saying it. How's it going up there_?"

The young kerbal pressed his face up to the glass. He noticed a slight puff of black smoke emit from the left engine.

"_It's looking good. Primary burn complete, detaching."_

"As soon as that ship fires up its engines, it's going to blow." the Kerbal thought to himself.

"_Starting the liquid fuel burn now."_

He was pleasantly surprised to find that the engine had not blown, and the puff of black smoke had dissipated.

"_Control, I'm getting a red light up here"_

The kerbal took his face off of the glass, and looked at the smudge he had made on it. He rubbed at it with his shirt sleeve but was interrupted by an explosion, and looking up, he saw the ship missing an engine, and was spiraling towards the ground.

"_Which red light was that?"_

He looked at the ship, and thought to himself, "Fuel line ruptured. Starboard."

"_Fuel line ruptured. Starboard."_

He looked out beyond the ship and saw the Mun in the evening sky, illuminated by the sun across the solar system.

"_Okay Jeb, we'll get you out of this, now just do as we say…"_

His eyes darted back to the ship, that was now engulfed in flames.

"_Alright, exiting the capsule now."_

The capsule was the only part, undamaged by the flame, it would appear like that would be the safest place, but not for Jebediah Kerman. Like usual.

"_We need you to re-attach the external fuel duct to the main engine"_

He saw a small figure open the capsule door and step out. No doubt, this was one of his few talents.

_"Removing starboard Gutter- I mean, Fuel duct now."_

Jebediah was perched dangerously on the external ladder. Even from the ground, it looked like a scary drop.

_"Complete! Alright mission control, what do I need to do now?"_

The young kerbal heard a loud cheer from the mission control room, just down the hall.

_"Now, you're going to need to slowly lower the ship down, we spent three hundred dollars on that thing, after all."_

He saw no point in watching the landing. He knew how it would end. The 'glorious' Jebediah Kerman would receive another award for surviving the unsurvivable. He couldn't help this feeling of greed, the incessant want to be like... _Him. _He shook the thought away, and began to walk back to his station.

His 'station' was actually to assist Mr. Wernher Von Kerman, as an intern, and deliver messages to, and from him. Sometimes he would stand in for Wernher whenever needed. He looked for a moment in the reflection of the glass window to smoothen out a calic off of the left side of his head. He observed his face to be sure nothing was on it. Nope. His head was as green and rectangular as always.

The room was half office, half observation equipment, with a massively large telescope to the left of the entrance. There was a newspaper clipping behind his desk of what he called, 'His Finest Hour' Where he and his old colleague Fred Kerman had discovered the Mun. In the corner, an old discarded painting had been thrown against the wall, looking closer, it was the 'Discovery of Water' painting. He felt bad for the poor painting, but he turned his attention back to Wernher. Today, it looked like it would be a light day. He was looking for more planets.

"Ah! Sonrey, my boy! How are you today?" He seemed quite chipper.

"I'm well." He replied, "and yourself?"

"Great! Better than great actually, I may have discovered a new Moon!" This was a shock. The last time he made a "discovery", it was a fly on the lens. Sonrey had to explain to the entire parliamentary why he had brought them fifty miles to his lab, only to tell them that it was a fly, and how Wernher suddenly developed bronchitis.

"Are you sure it's a moon? I thought that Kerbin only had the two." Wernher jumped off of his chair, And walked over to the large window the telescope was looking through.

"When I said moon, M'boy, I meant a moon of _another_ planet."

"What!?" Sonrey bolted over to the telescope, and looked through. The image was rather blurry, so he adjusted the focus. It came into view as a small blue speck in the sky.

"Wow. That's impressive." He sat up and looked at Wernher who, was now looking out as the sun dipped lower and lower beyond the horizon. He seemed troubled.

"What's the matter, sir?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing, nothing at all. I was just wondering how I should tell you..." Sonrey walked over and put his hand on Wernher's shoulder.

"Tell me what, sir?" He turned around and looked into his eyes with a sullen gaze, his mustache Moving with the motion of his upper lip.

"I know you've been with me for almost all of your internship. But... I was offered a job as Lead Science Advisor, And, i'm sorry to say this M'boy, but, you're going to have to complete your internship under the tutelage of another professor." This came as a shock, and his heart skipped a beat. The last three years with Professor Wernher were some of the best in his life, now the thought of his departure was, startling. He recalled all the good times he had, like the day when they discovered Helium, or when they "accidentally" slingshotted the town bully into the sun. His mind came back into focus in the now, and he realized that Wernher was still staring at him.

"Who will be my new professor?" He inquired,

"Whoever takes you. That's how it works here." Sonrey looked around, he became worried. What if nobody wanted him, what if, he never finished his internship?

"I can see the worry in your eyes, M'boy." He said calmly,"But don't worry, you're practically the creme of the crop here. There's opportunity out there, You just gotta go get it." He smiled, and Sonrey decided he was right. He was going to do just fine.

"Well, I had better finish this report on the new discovery. I only have two days until I need to move. And you need to apply for a new Tutor." Sonrey nodded, and made a mental note to pick up a form at the office.

"Well, Until later, I guess." Wernher nodded, then said,

"Wait, before you leave, here's a list of the new professors. Just for a reference source." He handed him the pamphlet that said 'Your New Job, and You.' Sonrey nodded in thanks and left the room.

Was he really leaving for good? He rubbed his forehead and slumped against the door.

"_I guess this is just a new beginning_."

"Here you are, Sonrey" Sonrey took his receipt from the secretary with long brown hair.

"Thanks Tara." He had Submitted his form to the three professors he hoped to get chosen by. His top choice was Fred Kerman, Wernher's old colleague, and friend. He already knew Fred, so that would make easier for the both of them. His second Choice was Kalvin Kerman, the current head of radar department. he had his physics class for a semester, where he came to like the man, despite his obsession of space Krakens. He also never seemed to leave the tracking center. The last choice was the Director of the space tracking center, Russell Kerman. He didn't personally know the man, but during an engineering lesson, he had given a very good lecture on the importance of Duct tape. His stomach grumbled at the thought, He figured he should get some lunch at the center's Astronaut Complex.

The complex was a large, half-ovaled building, between the R&amp;D labs and Space Plane Hangar. Inside, the building was constantly filled with, chatter, music, and fun. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to go into the Astro Lounge, on the left half of the building; That was reserved for the actual Astronauts. He, instead had to go right, to the Cadet's Lounge, which was created for the ground crew, rodents, and interns.

Inside, the building was filled with kerbals lounging around, enjoying a preflight drink. With the ways that the program tested, it might very well be their last. The bar was long, and stretched from one side of the room almost to the other. There was a large glass window, which separates the lounge from the workout room. He walked up to the bar and ordered a Ham sandwich with a rum in ice. The bartender passed him the drink and food. The imageviewer displayed the recent happenings on the news, as some peaceful protests over unshielded docking ports were turning violent. As he was enjoying the drink, he was surprised by A familiar voice that said,

"How's the drink?"He took a drink of it, and replied,

"I've had better." He looked over and at first didn't recognize the leather jacketed figure, but he immediately remembered that voice.

"Milbo! you goof ball. How's it going?" Milbo sat up and picked up his drink, took the last drink and said,

"Pretty good, the board of directors confirmed my request to be a new test pilot, i'm going up in three days." He started to eye the snack bowl.

"Wow, look at you, already a test pilot." Sonrey had a nostalgic feeling overcome him. He thought back to his childhood days when He, Milbo and Ozbon were best of friends. He remembered how much trouble they got into, but they didn't care, it was all worth it. He remembered once when Ozbon dared them to steal a old boat, and paddle down a frozen waterfall. The ice broke twelve feet around them before they even got to the waterfall and the boat fell into the water. It was one of the best moments in his childhood, and proved that good friends like those are hard to find.

"Remember when you and I stole that taxicab, and disassembled it completely?" They both were consumed in nostalgia, Milbo continued,

"And we reassembled it in the principal's office at three in the morning!"

"Talk about an early commute!"

"The best part? Nobody knew it was even us!" Milbo shoves

"Sonrey, it's been a long time since we last saw each other, and... frankly I'm not sure this was a good idea."

"What wasn't a good idea? Seeing me again?" Sonrey looked into Milbo's eyes, they were filled with a mix of emotion.

"No, no, not you. The test piloting program. I know that I want to do this, but the problem is that-" He looked around nervously and handed him a manilla file labeled 'Test Pilot Program Statistics'. He sighed and started up again, "The casualty rate, it's practically everyone. Ninety-Eight Percent of men that go up there don't come back down." He looked down sheepishly. Sonrey looked at him and thought for a second, while flipping through the book, everything that he had done, and given back to the world, And to have it all thrown away in a split second of a ship implosion. it wasn't a happy thought.

"I'm not scared, Sonrey." He faked a face of pride.

"Like I always say, Fear exists for one reason: To be conquered." Milbo chuckled and gave the grin that made you feel confident no matter the situation. He took the file back and put it back under his arm. A cheer came from the billiard table. Sonrey pushed his glass back to the bartender, and put his hand on Milbo's shoulder.

"It's good to see you again, old friend."


	4. Helping Hands

Chapter 2 - Helping hands

The next morning, Sonrey woke up, rubbing his head. He was laying in his bed, which was a part of a hall that stretched down to the main hall, where it led to the rest of the complex. The hall had a white floor, a dark grey wall, and the bunks were almost like tiny rooms. They were equipped with a miniature fridge, different cabinets, and a set of blinds.

"Hey, Newbie. You up?" A voice came from the upper bunk. But it was early, so he rubbed his eyes, and grumbled.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'." A head poked from the bunk, revealing a pair of eyes that looked directly at him.

"What do you want, Peter?" He replied.

"Only what you have. Listen, I ran out of instant flatcakes, can I borrow one?" Sonrey looked at him with a tired look, and said,

"I would if I could, but I just ate my last one yesterday."

"Fine then. I guess I'll be forced to eat dry cereal again. Like always. You know it's not good for my figure." His head disappeared from view.

Peter Constantine Von Kerman was his full name, and the son of Manfred Von Kerman, and because of his father, was guaranteed in the aerospace piloting program, one of the most prestigious programs the KSP had to offer. He nicknamed Sonrey "Newbie" and although he had no particular dislike for Peter, he could be annoying.

After a secret flatcake, he made his way down to the main offices, where he would hopefully get word back on whoever accepted his application. He exited the building to see a clear, beautiful autumn sky, And plenty of commotion. He took a left, down to the offices, where the path took him through a walkway of trees. A color of orange, yellow and red meant the testing shifts were back on schedule, the trees too. These thoughts however, were interrupted by the nearby tree shaking, letting lots of orange leaves fall to the ground. It would have been much prettier, had a Kerbal not fallen from the tree as well. Sonrey rushed over to check that he was okay, and shook his shoulder.

"Owww. My head…" The Kerbal grumbled, puffing yellow leaves out of his mouth.

"Are, you alright?" Sonrey looked into his eyes, and saw something strange about them. The kerbal looked embarrassed, almost even flustered.

"I- Uhh… Well, you see, I was… That is-" He obviously seemed embarrassed. He had very slight country accent about him.

"It's alright, I won't tell." he laughed. "You got a name?"

He stood up, brushing a hair off his face. "Uhh- Az- Fletcher. It's Fletcher."

"Pleased to meet you, The name's Sonrey." He held his hand out, and they shook. Something seemed off about him, but he couldn't point out what.

"Gotta split, See ya around?"

"Sure thing." He walked away from Sonrey, spitting the leaves out of his mouth. Sonrey shook his head, smiled and walked away.

He arrived at the office building, taking care not to show how desperately nervous he was. The thought of not being accepted by anyone in the facility was, nerve-wracking, To say the least. He passed the line of Kerbals who were headed for preliminary assessment. His feet dragged him to the main secretary, Tara, who was busy on the phone, so He stood by the counter, waiting for her to be done. Looking around, Sonrey saw a group of applicants who looked like they had just been on a jetpack explosion. Another few wobbled out of the bathroom, looking sickly.

"How may I help you ?" Tara was finished on the phone.

"Um, were any of my applications accepted? I submitted four." Tara flipped through the message box.

"You do have a message, from the internship department!" She pulled out an envelope, and handed it to him through the half-circle in the glass. Sonrey's heart almost skipped a beat, he was so relieved. He said his thanks, and rushed out the office, envelope in hand.

On his way back, he passed by the tree that Fletcher had fallen out of, the groundskeeper was grumbling at the pile of leaves, which had a substantial amount of debris, and he was sweeping them up into the black trashbag he had brought. He continued walking, until a reflection of light caught his attention. It was coming from the pile that the groundskeeper was sweeping up! A sense of curiosity swept over him.

"Excuse me! Can I look in that pile real quick?" The groundskeeper looked over at him, grumbled, and shrugged. He swept away at the pile with his hands, and found the source of the reflection.

"A HAM radio?" Milbo looked at him questionably. They were sitting in his bunk, eating lunch.

"That's right. It's what you talk into to have others hear you from long distances." He took another bite.

"I know what they do, you smart alec. I'm just wondering why you called me here." Sonrey put his plate down, and scooted closer.

Sonrey told him the internship application, the meaning of life the Fletcher fellow who fell out of the tree and how he acted a bit suspiciously nervous. Milbo looked with a quizzical face.

"Well, he did just fall out of a tree he might have just been embarrassed." Sonrey laid back on his pillow.

"I'm not sure. There's a difference between nervous and embarrassed." Milbo scratched his neck and said,

"Well, good luck Mr. Detective. I have to go take my weekly physical. I'll talk to you later." Sonrey nodded, and opened the curtain for him to leave. Lots of things were giving him questions.

"_Who is this Fletcher?"_

"_Why did he fall out of a tree?"_

"_What was he doing with a radio?"_

The questions made him drowsy, and a few minutes later, he was fast asleep.

_He sat in a green smoke. Nothing looked familiar, and nothing made sense. Was this a dream? Most dreams felt foggy, and distant. But not this one. It had a sense of clarity that he had never felt before. Also the lack of dancing whales was a clear difference. He began to walk around. Nothing appeared, and every direction was infinite. Then he saw a figure. Another Kerbal, perhaps? But the vision became fuzzy. It shuddered and trembled. And disappeared entirely. only to be replaced by the whales._


	5. New Bosses

Chapter 3 - New bosses

Sonrey awoke, clutching his blanket in a tight grip.

_"I need to stop eating before I sleep." _He thought, and sat up. He realized that he had never opened up his letter. He grabbed it, ripping it open, making haste to unveil its contents.

_Dear Sonrey Kerman,_

_This letter is to inform you that you have been accepted by a professor, so that you might continue your internship until either, your untimely death, the termination of the internship, or you complete the next {FIVE} months._

_Your Professor will be {PROFESSOR JAXSON}. Report to his office {Room LP-1}, the day after you receive this message._

_Signed, Head of KSP_

_Charles F. Kerman_

"Jaxson? Who on Kerbin is Jaxson?" Sonrey put his hand over his mouth, not expecting words to come out.

"I know who that is." Peter poked his head out from the top bunk.

"Who is he then?" Sonrey had never heard of any 'Jaxson' fellow, so the thought of a brand new professor was indeed intriguing. Peter flipped Right-side-up, and landed on his feet upon the bed.

"He's the newest Professor here, I hear he's a bit absent minded, but a good fellow. I heard he passed the exams by a technicality though, so I would probably double-check whatever he says with a textbook." Peter stood up, grabbed onto the curtain railing, and pulled himself up onto his own bed before Sonrey could utter 'Thanks'. He figured that now would be a good time to meet the man, before his procrastination duties start. He got up from his bed, and walked toward his office.

"You have got to be kidding me. This can't be right." He arrived at the "office" of Jaxson Kerman. If you could call it that. His office was located directly underneath the Launch Pad! The opening was a three year old bunker door, with a spinning hatch opening.

"What did this guy do to deserve such punishment?" he grumbled to himself, and started to turn the door hatch.

Three minutes later, he was inside, but the door closed behind him. He couldn't see at all in front of him, so he looked for a light switch. He felt his way inside of a room, the floor was wet, and he bumped his shin into something hard. It stunk in this place. His hand crept around, and he felt a chain. A light switch? Nope. It was a toilet flusher. The sound of a toilet flushing echoed throughout the area. His feet suddenly felt wet.

"_No. No. NO! Don't tell me. it's…"_His fears were confirmed. The toilet was overflowing.

"YEACHH!" He screamed and ran out of the room, Running head on into a wall. But the wall wasn't empty. There was a 'rip' Sound, and his neck suddenly felt heavy.

"YEOUCH!" The collision was still painful. He stumbled backward, yelling. He walked a couple of feet, until he was sure the ground wasn't wet anymore and that the danger was over. It wasn't. He took a single step back, and tripped on something on the ground, flipping backward. His mouth was suddenly filled with something. a wax-like substance.

"ACK!" He spat out whatever was in his mouth, and a metallic clang, sounded, followed by a creak. A thud followed that, and more, smaller thumps began. A strange electronic sound turned on.

"Oh no." The thuds continued for a few more seconds, and stopped. Sonrey sighed in relief, and figured he should try to find the light again. The relief was short lived. A Stone of some sort fell and made a Large CRASH. Shrapnel flew in every direction. Something glass was shattered, and fell to the floor. Sonrey's arm was cut, and a container fell to the ground, much like his knees. A wind began to blow, and the next thing he knew, a fluttering sound filled the room, falling from the roof.

At this moment, he heard the door begin to open. Sonrey swore under his breath, and tried futilely to get to the light switch, despite the pitch blackness of the room. The door opened, revealing a figure.

"Professor Jaxson?" He asked nervously.

"Indeed." it replied.

"Sonrey Kerman, Sir."


	6. First Impressions

Chapter 4 - First impressions

Professor Jaxson Took five slow steps down and flipped a switch on the wall. The room was entirely illuminated. It only took him an instant to realize the damage. The rip was caused by his head running into a painting, which was now around his neck. The bookcase contents were entirely emptied onto the ground, and the stone was a marble bust of some sort. The wax, was as he thought, a candle, which had hit a telescope that now had a two inch dent in the frame of it. The room itself was pretty fancy for being located under the launch pad. It consisted of a hardwood floor, Wall paneling and red rug, that ran up from the entrance up to his Oak wood desk.

"You are, who again?" Jaxson walked up to him.

"Ahem. I'm Sonrey Kerman, your new student. We haven't met before, so I thought I would come down here to surprise you." Sonrey's face was red, and he knew it. Jaxson looked around slowly, and said,

"Surprise me, indeed." He held his hand out to shake Sonrey's, and Sonrey Held his out. At least, he would have had there not been a painting around his neck.

"Oh! Do you want this back?" He slipped out of the painting, and handed it back to Jaxson, putting it on his extended arm.

"And here I was thinking that a stranger dressed as a ninja who was trying to steal my car in a dine-and-dash, was the craziest thing I've ever seen." He took the painting off his arm, and walked over to where it was before. He looked at a large crack in the wall, and asked,

"Was that you too?" Sonrey looked over and sheepishly nodded, his heart was racing. Jaxson hung the painting on the nail that it must have originally been on. He hadn't noticed what was on the painting before, but it depicted a Rocket ship flying away from Kerbin, but there was a hole right where Kerbin should have been.

"Ah, good as new! Don't you agree?" He turned his head over toward Sonrey,

"Well, aside from the hole in the middle." Jaxson walked over to observe the rest of the room, and sat on his chair.

"Think nothing of it." He replied, putting his feet on the desk. Sonrey's heart almost skipped a beat.

"I beg your pardon?" Jaxson leaned over in his chair to pick up his wax candle.

"Well, yes. I don't think anyone is capable to doing something like this on purpose, right?" he motioned his arms in the way of the massive mess.

"I- I- I don't believe this. I thought I was a goner. I figured you would be furious." Jaxson leaned over and picked up the loose papers surrounding his desk, and turned the fan off.

"Well surprised, I was. But mad? No. I've seen crazier." He arranged the papers back into their respective folders, and continued "A fellow once threw a toaster at me because I wouldn't accept a fake twenty dollar bill written on cardboard."

"What was he trying to buy?" Sonrey started to help picking up the various pens that now littered the ground.

"Pickled Sausages." Jaxson took a small hammer out of his lab coat, and straightened out the telescope.

"That's disgusting. Why did he think you would sell him pickled sausages?" Sonrey picked up the shards of glass from a broken vase.

"Because I was running an ice cream van." Sonrey looked over at him in confusion.

"An Ice cream van? That doesn't exactly explain why he threw a toaster at you." Jaxson picked up the books and organized them accordingly.

"Some things are meant to be left a mystery. Perhaps that was just one of them." Sonrey chuckled at the scenario, and put the glass shards into the proper bin.

"So, professor, tell me, why is your office located underneath the launch pad?" Sonrey picked up the broken bust, and set it upright. Jaxson looked over at him, and a dark gaze came over his eyes.

"Kiddo, let me tell you, that I'm only here because someone important thought I was a lost cause, but I persuaded them that I could be fixed, like all other problems. That's how I live. I never accept that something is unfixable." Sonrey straightened the rug, and asked,

"What do you mean?" He finished up with the rug and looked up.

"look around you, kiddo." He did, and realized that the previous catastrophe, was now a sparkling clean room. Sonrey was surprised at the transformation.

"I can see what you mean."

"You should take cover." Sonrey would have asked why, but was interrupted by a massive rumble. The whole room shook, and Sonrey immediately seeked cover. Jaxson however, Just kicked his feet back on the desk. The bust of Jaxson fell over and landed right in front of sonrey, again, sending shards of broken stone into Sonrey's face. The Telescope also had fallen, hitting Sonrey's already injured Knee.

"AGH!" A piece slashed his forehead, and hand. He grasped his hand in pain, and looked at something beyond the telescope that caught his eye.

"_A Radio?" _Blood ran down his face. He thought back to the radio earlier, and compared it. Coincidence? Jaxson looked back at him, his eyes widened.

"Sonrey, your head is blee-" He fainted. Apparently he didn't have any tolerance for blood.

He exited the room, but not without some trouble. The palm of his already injured hand was scraped with a stray screw. That, and he had a smashed knee, hand, forehead, and there were bruises all over. He hobbled to the Medical rooms, and began to feel dizzy.

"Whoa, Sonrey what happened?" He looked up to find Fletcher, kneeling above him. Sonrey reached for him, but he passed out on the ground.

_The whales were on a rollercoaster, the cart pulling them along the winding track. Nobody really seemed to care about them, they were just having a grand old time. Sonrey took a bite out of his cotton candy, and kept walking along the pathway. He noticed an attraction he hadn't seen before at this park. It was a maze of mirrors, and the line was empty, so he entered. Walking, the mirrors distorted his sense of direction, and he rounded the corner, an paused. But the reflections kept moving. A figure that definitely wasn't Kerbal. It moved quickly, and the room filled with a green billowing smoke. _

"_Hello. Sonrey."_


	7. Recovery

Chapter 5 - Recovery

"Sonrey! SONREY, WAKE UP!" Sonrey sat straight up, and realized he was sweating immensely. Fletcher was standing next to him, and he realized he was in the Doctor's room, on the recovery bed.

"Are you alright? You were curling up in a ball, and your body temperature dropped twelve degrees." Sonrey put his hand up to his head, and realized he had stitches now. The room was painted a beige and there was a small bathroom to the right of him, but it was dark outside. He looked over at Fletcher, who had black marks all over his arms, and pair of suspenders on his shoulders.

"You're an engineer, Fletcher?" Fletcher nodded,

"Yep, building and fixing ships is my thing. You however, I can't fix." He chuckled, and his face got more serious.

"What happened to you, Sonrey? The doctor had to do surgery on your Knee, and that hand of yours is going to have some scarring." Sonrey looked at his hand, and gripped the Bandage around it, wincing in pain.

"It's a long story. I wouldn't want to bore you." Fletcher pulled up a stool, and sat down.

"I've got time, so let's hear it."

Sonrey told him of what happened, the letter, the office, the catastrophe that happened, the new professor, and the bust that had caused so much damage.

"Good word, man. That's horrible." He scooted back.

"Yeah, tell that to me. My head is throbbing." Fletcher Stood up, and put the stool back.

"Well, it's been fun, but try not to get injured anymore, okay?" Sonrey nodded, and managed a smile.

"I have some late-night shipwork to do, but I'll be sure to see you around." Fletcher left the room and closed the door. Sonrey smiled, there was something he liked about Fletcher, and he couldn't figure out what.

Sonrey looked at the poster across from the bed, and it read:

"_To prevent germs from spreading, do the following: _

_Breathe less when around others._

_Wash your food before eating._

_Shake hands only when wearing gloves._

_Avoid rusty dogs and rabid nails._

_The welfare of all Kerbals, Thanks you for your cooperation. _

He dismissed the poster, and rolled onto his side. He saw an envelope, and a small box on the pedestal, both addressed to him. He reached over with his injured hand and picked up the envelope. Inside was a card, He opened it with his good hand. It read:

"_Hey Sonrey,_

_I Heard you had taken a beating yesterday. I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you out, but I was getting my briefing on the pilot mission earlier. I came to check on you, but you were unconscious, so I hope this card will do. I know it's not much, but if it helps, the mission i'm expected to be the first one to orbit the Mun. Wish me luck!_

_Your Partner-in-Crime,_

_Milbo Kerman"_

The card gave Sonrey a smile. He thought himself lucky to have friends like his. He reached over for the small box, which looked to be from KSP High Command. Upon opening it, he found a small medal in a padded case, and an engraved piece of metal. It read:

"_For your bravery, in and out of the line of duty,_

_KSP High Command awards you:_

_The Darker Violet Heart,_

_For being __Killed_ _injured in the line of duty."_

_Signed, Charles F. Kerman_

"Pfft, whatever." He put the box next to the card, and laid back, putting his head on the hospital pillow. It was ridiculous what that 'Charles' Fellow awarded people. Jebediah alone could probably build a new spaceship out of all the medals he'd gotten. It was almost as though he gave out medals willy nilly. He felt that wave of envy come across him, but was soon replaced by a wave of drowsiness.

Over the next few days, he started to recover, and with the exciting news of Milbo's successful orbit around the Mun, it boosted spirits around the Space Center among the interns, test pilots and rodent population. After another day of bed rest, he was allowed to move around again, and his knee was almost fully healed. Two Months passed, and the planet began to delve into winter. The launchings were scheduled less frequent, and things began to freeze up. The tracking station was in constant need of repairs, the engine fuel froze up mid-launch, and despite this, the enthusiasm was high. Professor Jaxson was just as cryptic as he was when they first met, and it seemed as though he refused to let Sonrey know too much about him. Despite this, he was a very wise tutor, and with his help, passed the final internship tests. He never did find out what Fletcher was doing with the Radio, anytime he tried to ask, he was interrupted by someone or something. Milbo rose quickly to the top of the test piloting ranks, with thirty-two successful pilots, he almost was as prestigious as Jebediah himself.

It was the last day of his Internship, and to celebrate, Milbo had invited him to the club, with a VIP pass to the bar, and bowling.

Sonrey exited the Launch pad, hiding his face in his Jacket. The Flurries this time of year were worse than some. His Eyes were getting dangerously cold, but he had to keep moving to get to the Astronaut Complex. The snow was almost half a meter deep, off of the paths, and the whole peninsula was engulfed in a white wonderworld, almost a terrifying beauty.

Upon entering, he found Milbo standing by the bar, and he waved to Sonrey, motioning for him to come over.

"Congratulations!" Milbo held out his hand, and he shook it firmly.

"I can't believe it, My little Sonrey, all grown up now!" He pinched Sonrey's cheeks, and made a goo-goo face at him.

"Oh stop, you dork." Sonrey smiled and they both laughed.

"Well, I don't know about you, but i'm not getting any younger here. let's go hit the Pins."

They walked up to the VIP lounge, and swiped the card to enter. Inside, they put their shoes onto the benches. While Milbo went to go get the shoes, he picked out the bowling balls. Walking up, he found the two correct weights for the both of them. A nine pound, and an eight pound. It was at this moment he got a fiendish plan. He reached into his pocket, and found his file, which he had been using earlier to make a replacement wooden bust for Jaxson. He picked up the nineteen pound ball, and began to file away at the 'one'.

He hobbled over to the ball return, holding the replacement ball. He knew Milbo was a much better player than he was, and it was his tradition to sabotage whatever game they were playing in some way.

"You ready?" Milbo handed him his pair of bowling shoes, and Sonrey nodded to take the first turn. Standing up, he grasped the ball in hand, and held it to his face.

"You ready to lose Milbo?" He glanced quickly over his shoulder to see him reply,

"I'll be ready for something, that's for sure." And with that, Sonrey took three steps and released the ball. Right into the gutter.

"That was my demonstration of how not to do it." The ball popped back up, and he grabbed it.

"Alright, now let's see your obvious skill!" He made a bowing motion with his arms. Sonrey took one deep breath, and Imagined the trajectory of the ball, with spin applied. Slowly, he took the three steps, and let the ball run along the ground, following the line his mind drew.

"Spare." He turned around to find Milbo with eyes wide, and a lot wider than usual.

"Alright Son-man. You're on." He stood up, and Sonrey took his seat.

"I'll show you how I roll when I- WHOA!" He was not expecting the weight of the ball to be as it was. It fell with a loud 'CLUNK' and the lane shook, knocking over one of the pins.

"You little-" He held his tongue, and gave him the face of "I'm going to get you". Sonrey couldn't keep in his laughter, and was bursting out on the bench. They both laughed, and after he got a new ball, they played, just two friends.

It was late by the time they finished, Milbo won with a one point lead. They exited the VIP lounge, and the bartender was busy cleaning up a mess on the ground. The world outside was still frozen in a white blizzard.

"Hey, That was a good game" He laughed and put his hand on Milbo's shoulder.

"Well, for you, yes. If i hadn't gotten a 5-10 split on the last one, I would have won."

"Ah, little things. Speaking of that, I got a graduation gift for you." He handed Sonrey an envelope, one that looked important.

"Is this a letter to me? From High Command?" He looked over it. Sure enough, it was addressed to him. It contained the 'Important Stamp of Importance' on its seal.

"It sure is, I wanted to deliver it myself."

Sonrey wasted no time ripping it open. Inside, it said:

_Dear Sonrey Kerman:_

_Congratulations Sonrey Kerman on completing your four-year internship! The Council has decided, and it is with great pleasure to inform you that you have been accepted as a valued __expendable_ _astronaut in the KSP! Please report to mission control to receive your briefing._

_Good luck,_

_Kerbin High Command_

"YEAH-HA!" Sonrey shouted at the ceiling, making Milbo jump a bit. His whole life had never been better than how it was right now. His work had paid off, and he fantasized about traveling to the Mun, or even Minmus. The thought of accelerating at thirty Gees was freeing, not only from Kerbin, but from life. Life on Kerbin was too slow for his tastes.

"Wait. Did you steal this from the mail?" He asked. Milbo looked from side to side.

"...Yes?" He responded. "I mean, we all look identical."

"Yeah. That's true. Someone would think by this point we'd at least have different faces." They both just stood there and pondered the idea. Milbo continued on the previous point.

"In any case, good job Son-man." He held out his hand to shake. Sonrey gave him a great big bear-hug instead.

"I can't wait. Finally i'll be getting off of this rock." His heart was lifted higher than the stars, that soon, he'd be visiting.


	8. Have a Plan

Chapter 6 - Have a Plan

The next days passed before his eyes, leading up to the briefing, given by the most crew-cut man they could find. There, the infamous 'Douglas MacKerman', who was an army man through-and-through, Was standing behind a podium, with his pipe, in a dark room which was only illuminated by the projector shining onto the screen behind him.

"I'll assume you are the Sonrey Kerman, I've heard so much about?" He walked up as Sonrey stood at attention.

"Hmph. Pathetic. They just don't make the astronauts the way they used to. That Jebediah now, THAT was a real specimen. Fifteen years in aeronautics, that pinnacle of perfection. Four in KSP. You? Four years of hitting the books. Pathetic." Sonrey bit his cheek, and tried to resist the urge to punch a new hole in his pipe.

"Still, I gotta make do with who I'm given. Let's get this over with." He walked back behind the podium, and picked up a projector remote control.

"You may take your seat."

"Yes sir." He took a seat at front, closest to the projector.

"Alright, now pay attention, because I'm only going to say this once. You are planned to command the first multi-crew spacecraft, complete with a group of three, including yourself, to get into a high, and stable orbit around the Mun." He switched to a slide that depicted the flight plan. "You and your crew are going to take physical observations, and take note of any good possible landing places for Jebediah's Mun 12 Landing." He switched slides again.

"If I may sir, Why can't we just land there ourselves?" Douglas's eyebrow rose.

"Two words: You're incapable. We need someone with balls to be able to pull off this sort of landing."

"Well I've been training in landing procedures, and we could bring back plenty of rock samples, do tests, perhaps-"

"Did I stutter?" Douglas interrupted, and very rudely too. He walked off the podium, and stuck his face into Sonrey's. "When I said 'Observational' That means LOOK ONLY. L-U-K. Do I make myself clear?" He could smell his tobacco breath.

"No Sir, you did not stutter. I understand."Sonrey felt dejected.

"Good. Now, the parameters of the crew are stated here, you need one of each who is qualified enough to fulfill the position. Who you choose is up to you. But stay away from Bill, Bob, And Jebediah, they are OFF LIMITS. DO YOU HEAR ME!?"

"Yes sir." Sonrey picked up a pamphlet, with and abnormally happy Kerbal on the front and a title that said, "_So you're planning a trip to an extraterrestrial planet in our near solar system?_" and flipped through it.

"GOOD. You have three days to prepare." He turned off the projector, clapped his hands, and the lights turned on.

"I'll find my crew." Sonrey nodded at Douglas, and headed for the door.

"You'd better, I'd hope that your last four years weren't in vain. DISMISSED." Sonrey gritted his teeth, his insults were past irritating.

Upon leaving, he read over the three positions:

1) Science Specialist

2) Pilot

3) Engineer Specialist

The science position was easy. Sonrey specialized in the field, and with that, he checked off the box next to 'Science Specialist', and signed his name on the dotted line. The other two however, would be harder to find. On his way out of the building,and into the cold, he thought to himself,

"_Milbo!"_ he knew that Milbo would gladly help him out, and sure enough, later that day, he was signed on. And that made two down, and one more to go. Who could have been qualified to be his engineer?

He entered the Vehicle assembly building, and the engineers were busy working on the ship. There stood a large vessel, about three stories tall. it had four large solid fuel boosters, but in a configuration he had never seen before. Instead of the primary engines being on bottom, they were on top, like a tug boat. There were radial engines on the primary hull, and solar panels equipped. There were engineers working on bits and pieces, painting on all the important containers like 'Food' and 'Not Food'. One was patching a hole with some chewing gum. Scientists were there observing the construction, then there were the workers, who did odd jobs, like transport materials, and direct ships to the launch pad. One of them was chewing on his glow stick.

"A beaut' isn't she? Twelve thousand pounds of thrust, three-hundred-sixty degree maneuvering thrusters, automatic docking procedures, a three terawatt computer, and enough oxygen to last six years in space." He looked behind him to see Fletcher, with a wrench in his hand, and a large black smudge on his face.

"Is she our ship?" Sonrey inquired.

"No, not ours. Yours, remember? Engineers don't go into space." Fletcher sighed and looked at the large craft.

"How would you like to change that?" He handed Fletcher the clipboard, and a pen.

"Are you- Are you for real?" His eyes were wide, and he moved closer to Sonrey. "I never thought that they'd never do the smart thing for once, and send repair crews on manned craft.

"In that case, can I count on you to join us?" He tapped the board with his finger.

"You can bet on it." He signed his name on the line after 'Engineer Specialist".

He walked up to the offices, where Tara was sitting, like usual. There was a bigger commotion around here than normal, he overheard a group of scientists complaining that something wrong with the tracking dishes.

"Hey Tara, I've got my Crew form all filled out, and i'm ready to submit it." She looked up from her desk.

"Already? In one day?" She took the form, and looked over it, stamping, checking, and signing through all the different pages. "It looks good, I'll sent it through priority mail an-" She was interrupted by a phone ringing. "Sorry, one second."  
"It's fine." He waited for a few seconds, and she handed the phone through the paper hole in the glass window.

"It's for you." Confused, he picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"_Sonrey? It's Douglas MacKerman. We've made a slight change in your crew plan."_

"What do you mean, 'Change'?"

"_Nothing too serious, we'll keep your current crew, but command wants to send a supervising officer, to observe how a multi-crew works under stress."_

"I see, any idea who will be this Officer will be?"

"_Yes, I have his name right here. Ozbon Kerman." _

Sonrey tried to speak, but all that came out was a croak.

"_Sonrey? Don't you dare hang up on me, now."_

"I see sir. Thank you sir." He handed the phone back to Tara. "Thanks Tara, I'll be going now." She looked at him and said,

"Is something the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I think I have."


	9. Preparations

Chapter 7 - Preparations

"Ozbon? Hah! That's great! The whole gang is back again!" Milbo exclaimed. They were sitting by the bar. Sonrey had a glass of rum, as usual, and Milbo was eating a plate of assorted snacks and he had his usual triple caramel sextuple chocolate double frappuccino macchiato deluxe latte.

"Yeah, its real great. it's just- nevermind." Sonrey couldn't shake this weird feeling off of his mind. He thought he should be excited to see him again after five years, but it felt… wrong.

"Ah, don't worry about it. It's always hard to expect seeing someone after five years. that's why I snuck up on you last year." He patted Sonrey on the back, and he almost spit out his drink onto the table. He wiped a drop from his chin, and said,

"Perhaps you're right. Besides, we'll be plenty busy preparing for the flight. Rumor has it that the engineering division has spent a few extra days testing out all this equipment, so we won't have a repeat of the 'Contender' Incident." The whole room stopped immediately, took off their hats and synchronously said:

"May the Kraken have mercy on their souls." They placed their hats back, and continued.

"Well, that's reassuring, at least we won't have the airlock open, like the Contender's."

The whole room stopped immediately, took off their hats again, and synchronously said:

"May the Kraken have mercy on their souls." Sonrey put the hat back on, put five dollar bill on the bar, and said,

"I'd better go check on some things, I'll talk to you later."

_Over the next few weeks, a lot happened. The first few parts of the KSS were sent up into orbit around Kerbin, and the prospects of getting to the Mun was a lot higher, with newer and newer technologies being developed. Some technologies however, were less breakthrough-worthy, like the 'Airbag Launch System', or the 'Umbrella Parachute Theory' Needless to say, none of these worked, but nevertheless, The technologies brought good news to everyone, with the exception of the '101 Uses for Duct Tape in Space' Teachers. But the fact remained that the Mun 11 Launch, which was dubbed 'Project Inquiry', was going to be the prelude to a greater achievement: the Mun. For three weeks, the three trained in a test craft, honing their skills, learning about more efficient uses for plastic wrap, and practicing command abilities. It was down to the last two days before the launch, and Sonrey was told to meet Gene Kerman in mission control, for a last brief on some finalized details._

He walked up, and looked at the door that read 'Mission Control', he also looked to his left to see a large window, the one he had looked through on the day that Wernher had given him his last day of tutoring. Apparently, he had kept looking for the planet that housed the moon he had found. He did eventually find it, in fact, when he did find it, he thought he was just looking at kerbin. A cleaning boy of his told him that's not how telescopes work, and that boy was immediately promoted to be a test pilot.

Taking a deep breath, he walked into the room, where red lights were flashing, and people were scuttling about, trying to find ways to fix a fuel shortage in space.

"Sonrey! In my office, if you would.' Gene Kerman pointed to a glass room on the other side of the room. He nodded, and they entered.

"Sonrey, I have someone i'd like you to meet. He should arrive any moment now. Cigar?" He held up a box of Cigars and offered one to Sonrey.

"No thanks, my lungs would never forgive me." He pushed the lid closed, and Gene put it back onto his desk.

"Eh, shame. Oh! Here he is now!" He stood up and motioned for someone to come in. He looked over and saw the big figure enter the room.

"Sir, Ozbon Kerman, reporting for duty." His voice was like a ragged tongue had made love with gravel. It almost scared Sonrey to hear it again after so long, and His suit was adorned with medals, but it looked like he was in the military, as opposed to the KSP. It felt like something was grabbing at his collar, so he loosened his tie.

"Ozbon!" He held his hand out to high-five, but Ozbon put his out to shake, much to his surprise. He regained his posture, and shook firmly, and in doing so, Ozbon turned over his hand. He pointed at the scar on his palm.

"How'd you get that?" Sonrey took his hand back.

"Long story, perhaps later?" Ozbon nodded to it, and turned to Gene, who was puffing on a Cigar. He took it out and said,

"Well, if you two are done here, I think we can begin." He took an easel and put a diagram of the flight path up. "I hope you recognize this flight plan, but we need to change one slight detail." He took off the trajectory of the flight, and replaced it with another one. "This will be your new plan." It appeared to be a set of complex flight burns and gravity slingshots… And space kittens?

"Sir, if this is correct" Sonrey said, "Then what we're doing is shooting around the Mun, evading a giant Kitten, and use that power to get us to crash through an interstellar wall, to Minmus, and then shoot back at the Mun, looping about through the holes in giant doughnuts, to come back home, to a parade and a tea party. Am I correct?" Gene puffed on the cigar again.

"Something like that. The boys at the geometrical lab found that this perfect alignment happens once every two or so years, and we want to take advantage of it. It's definitely a right, proper insane idea." Ozbon stood up,

"Well sir, I think it's a sound idea, what about you Sonrey?" Sonrey was spacing out for a second. He was looking out, at the large flashing lights. The ground crew had successfully destroyed the 'TP-LRS Mk. XLIV'. Someone on a ladder reset the '_This workplace has gone [##] hours without a fatal crash' _Clock.

"Sonrey?" Gene was waving his hand in front of his face. Sonrey regained his senses, and responded,

"Oh yeah, I agree with him." Gene walked up, puffing on the cigar, and holding two files.

"Then it's decided, I have this map that will tell you both more detailed flight plans than this drawing done by my youngest daughter. Be sure to take one on your way out." Sonrey looked out at the big screens, and saw the last few seconds of a poor test pilot's flight. Gene looked quizzically at Sonrey. "Hey, sonrey, you launch in two days, don't go spacing out prematurely, okay?" He smiled at the joke with the cigar in his mouth, and dismissed the two of them.

"Well, how about that. Two planets in one flight, crazy, right?"He looked over at Ozbon, whom he had expected a witty answer from, but all he got was an eyebrow movement. "No? Alright."

"I agree with Gene's Decision, but that doesn't mean i'm at liberty to speak my own opinion." Sonrey looked at him with a skeptical face.

"Riiiiiiight…" They exited the building, and Sonrey was almost afraid to ask him how he's been the last five years, so he kept quiet.

Later, he was in the lounge discussing the plans with fletcher, who had his hair at Ear length now, and Milbo, who was eating more snacks from the bar bowl.

"Wow, two flybys in one flight? That's never been done before." Milbo was pointing at the map.

"Not until today, because us three will be the first." Sonrey grabbed the map, and began to open his mouth when a gravel voice said,

"I believe you meant 'us four." They all looked up to see Ozbon standing there, still in his Class-A Uniform, and holding the same file Sonrey had gotten. Milbo stood up, smiling, they shook hands, and he asked,

"How have you been, you old dog?" Ozbon pulled up a chair, and ate a pretzel.

"I have been well, and yourselves?" Fletcher looked quizzically at Ozbon. Sonrey decided to introduce Fletcher to Ozbon, when he remembered that he wasn't part of his childhood friend group.

"We've been good! Oh, and this is Fletcher. He's our Engineering specialist." They shook hands.

"Pleased to meet you, Fletcher."

"...Likewise."

"Well, now that the gang's all back together, how about a story from Ozbon, eh? I'm sure you have plenty to tell, right?" Milbo looked at Ozbon intentively. Ozbon just stared. Milbo lifted his brows and tilted his head towards Ozbon.

"Unfortunately, if I were to tell you even the least exciting thing I knew, I couldn't. Because it's all classified." Milbo looked over at Sonrey. Sonrey just shrugged. "If you'll excuse me it's getting late, and I need to prepare for the journey." He then stood up and left. Milbo put a confused look on, and looked at Sonrey.

"Was that Ozbon that just talked to us? Or was it an android?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but he's right. We should probably get ready for the trip." They stood up, said good night, and left to their respective places.

That Night, Sonrey drempt.

"_Sonrey! Can you hear me?" A voice asked. Not a whale, for sure. The green smoke room appeared again. The same Lifelike dream as before. Nobody to be seen. He turned around, and stopped immediately. It was a female Kerbal, a beautiful one, that's for sure. _

"_Who-?" He asked._

"_I am not one of yours. But mine are threatened by yours." She said._

"_What are you?" He asked again._

"_I cannot reveal that. But I Must ask you this: How loyal are you to your leaders?"_

"_Well." Sonrey hadn't really thought about this before. "I Guess I'm pretty loyal. Why?" _

"_When you have me, you'll feel like sharing me. But if you do, you don't have me. What am i?" The lady asked._

"_Hmm. Let's see..." He thought about it for a bit until, "A Secret! Is that it?"_

"_Correct. Be sure your secrets are in check. I wish for our kinds to come to no harm at each other's doorstep. But If that ever happens. You may just be the only one who can help us." She began to dematerialize out of the green smoke. "We'll meet again…"_


	10. A Change of Plan

Chapter 8 - A change of plan

The newspaper reporters were lined up, and the four of them walked down the pathway to the launch pad. Sonrey couldn't help but crack a grin as he saw the cheering faces that all looked identical. Camera flashes lit up the early morning sky, and a young Kerbal threw a cracker onto the ground, despite the "Do not feed the astronauts" signs posted. Butterflies filled everyone's gut, even Mr. Crew cut himself seemed on edge. The capsule was perched atop of a large mass of rockets, and despite it's chaos, looked stable enough. Fletcher gave him a reassuring nod, and a butterfly flew away. The distance was closing in, and they reached the base of the craft. The ship was forty feet tall, and became thinner as the height rose. He peered around for the ladder up, but was surprised to not find one. He gave a piercing look over at fletcher, and all he received was a shrug. The crowd died down a bit as Milbo motioned for them to follow. They circled the craft a few times, and looked up at the observers, Gene, Wernher, Charles and Douglas, who were on top of the Vehicle assembly building. They just shrugged back at the four of them.

"Well great, now we can't get on top of the stupid thing."Sonrey shook his head in disbelief. The crowd was confused, and started to make a commotion. Fletcher fiddled with his jetpack controls. Milbo rubbed the side of his helmet. "What a great start to our journey." Out of despair, he banged his head against the hull of the ship. A ladder fell.

"Well that's one way to do it." Milbo muttered.

They climbed up the tower of rockets, up to the capsule, and opened up the hatch. The insides were cozy, and it seated three. The ship insides were conical, with a docking hatch at the front, and then it cylindrified as it got closer to the rear. The fourth seat was behind a hatch in the bottom of the capsule. They crawled in, and put their helmets and EVA Packs aside. Fletcher bumped his head on the support strut, and muttered something in pain.

"Ozbon, catch the door on your way in." Sonrey said, as he buckled into his seat. Ozbon closed the hatch with ease, and locked it air-tight. As they all got buckled in, Milbo turned on the lights and main computer. The capsule became a hum of electronics.

"_Alright. We've begun the countdown. Are you all ready?" _Mission control came on over the radio.

"We're looking good up here. How much time do we have until launch?" Sonrey asked.

"_Ten seconds"_

Ozbon tightened his straps.

"_Nine"_

Sonrey popped his back.

"_Eight"_

Fletcher bit his lower lip

"_Seven"_

Milbo sat up a bit straighter.

"_Six"_

Ozbon rubbed his hand.

"_Five"_

Sonrey's stomach prepared.

"_Four"_

Fletcher wiped a bead of sweat off his face.

"_Three"_

"_Two"_

"_One"_

A moment of silence.

"_Have a nice trip."_

The cabin rocked violently. All four of the passengers were blast back against their seats. The Gee forces were almost four, as they lifted off of the surface.

From the space center, the cheers were abundant, as the craft lifted off. But the mission was far from over.

Sonrey turned his head over to Ozbon, who had his always stoic look on his face. The opposite seat held Milbo, who was smiling like a maniac. Fletcher was out of view, in the rear. Looking down, he noted that the 120 seconds of booster fuel was almost up. He reached up, and opened the switch to activate the second booster. When the ship rocked, and became weightless, he hit the switch. The ship rocked harder as the air outside became hotter. Milbo pushed the ship toward the horizon, and the bright light of the sun peered through the ship. The ship felt lighter and lighter in a matter of minutes. Once a stable orbit was achieved, and mission control gave the green light to get out of their seats, the got out, and began floating around.

"Hey look- I'm weightless!" Milbo, said as he began to spin in circles with glee. "Son-man, try this out!" Sonrey was still trying to undo his seatbelt.

"A little help here?" He asked, but to no avail, because Ozbon was off taking data from a computer, and Milbo was too busy flipping about the cabin. He tugged at the belt a bit, but he soon found that the belt fabric was tangled on his suit. "Seriously guys, I need help." He asked again. Looking behind him, he noticed that Fletcher was nowhere in the cabin. "Guys, where's-" He was cut off by Milbo who said,

"Guys. Fletcher is unconscious." Ozbon drifted over to the fourth seat to help Milbo. Sonrey went back to work at the belt.

"_So how does it look from up there?" _The familiar voice of Wernher came on over the speaker. Sonrey picked up a microphone and looked out.

The Planet below them was a gem of excitement, clouds moved like tufts of cotton, the ocean shimmered brilliantly, and the cities in the dark sparkled like grains of sand on a beach. The Mun began to eclipse the ship as it moved in front of Kerbol.

"Breathtaking." Sonrey said, enthralled by the pure sight of it. He looked over to see that his belt became untangled. "In fact-" he continued "I feel you'd love it up here."

"_Hah, no. space is one thing I'll gladly observe from the ground." _He chuckled. "_I'll put you back through mission control now." _His voice was replaced by the familiar voice of Gene.

"_Alright, as I'm sure you know, this is a tight timeframe, so we haven't time to observe the vie-"_

"But sir," Milbo interrupted, "Fletcher is out cold"

"_You have faith he built the ship well, yes? Then you'll do fine without him" _Gene snapped.

"Someone's a bit antsy."Milbo muttered.

"_We have two minutes until the primary burn"_ Milbo looked over at Sonrey. The primary burn was the first stage of rocket thrusters that would push the ship further and closer to the

"You want to have a look at Fletcher?" Milbo motioned over to his chair, and they both floated over.

"Did anyone bring a felt pen?" Milbo joked, as Sonrey observed Fletcher. It was pretty clear to him that fletcher just lost consciousness, Nothing serious, so he strapped his sleeping body into the chair.

"_Alright two minutes is up. Prepare for the burn on my mark." _Gene cut through the silence of the cabin.

"Alright, alright, i'm getting to the control. Jeez." Milbo muttered. Ozbon floated over to Sonrey with a clipboard and calculator.

"Something's not right here." He said, as the ship rocked a bit because of the thrusters firing.

"What is it?" Sonrey inquired, taking a look at the calculations he had handed him.

"Ever since I looked at the ship specifications, I noticed that the amount of fuel was much too low." He said as he took the calculations back. "And what's more, we won't even have enough fuel to get to Minmus." Sonrey showed a look of mixed emotion. Fear, surprise, anger. He was about to say something when he was interrupted by a groggy voice.

"New fuel." It was Fletcher, who had just awoken.

"New fuel?" they asked simultaneously.

"Yeah, I thought you guys knew. We filled up the ship with a much more efficient fuel." He got up, and rubbed his head. His left jaw seemed… deflated. Sonrey dismissed it.

"Why did nobody tell us this?" Ozbon said, looking Agitated.

"Well it was in the memo. Didn't you get the memo?" Fletcher floated over to the computer screen. "Here, I'll print you out a copy of the memo."

A piece of paper came out from the bottom of the screen. "Here's the memo."

It read:

_Attention Crew_

_We are required to tell you that the regular fuel will be replaced with a more efficient fuel, dubbed KA-002. There is no need for alarm._

_KERBIN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY_

"Well Ozbon, there's your answer." Sonrey said, feeling relieved that the mission wasn't doomed to fail. He and fletcher began to float over to where Milbo was getting out the playing cards.

"What does it stand for?" Ozbon asked.

"Beg your pardon?" Fletcher stopped and turned around to look at Ozbon. His normal look of stoic-ness was replaced with question.

"'KA-002'. What does it stand for?"

Fletcher was confused too. "I'm not sure" He said, taking the memo into his hands. "All I know was the last time we used it was on the Contender"

All four stopped, and synchronously said, "May the Kraken have mercy on their souls."

"Didn't that ship explode?" Sonrey asked. Fletcher went back to the computer monitor.

"Among other things. It also had a faulty airlock, the engines weren't properly equipped to handle the heat of the new fuel, and the hull was poorly built." Fletcher scrolled down the list of malfunctions as Milbo floated back to his pilot's chair.

"How was that ship even able to be considered space-worthy?" Ozbon said, looking through the list with his own eyes. Fletcher scratched his chin.

"I don't-" He stopped.

"You don't what?" Sonrey asked, looking over at fletcher. He was in the corner, doing something to his face. "Is something the matter?"

"Nope! Completely fine here!" Fletcher's chin was no longer wrinkled.

'_What is he up to?' _Sonrey thought to himself.

He was about to ask for answers, when the ship suddenly rocked violently. The three of them were tossed about, beeps and alarms went off in the cockpit.  
"WHAT WAS THAT!?" Ozbon's military discipline kicked into gear.

They all floated to the front, where milbo was sitting there, with a look of pure dread.

"WHAT IS GOING ON?" Ozbon asked Milbo. All he got in reply was:

"_Kraken."_


	11. A Turn For the Worst

Chapter 9 - A Turn For the Worst

The four of them sat in shock. The massive creature looked bigger than the planet they were orbiting. It had many, many, tentacles, three of which, reached out for the ship.

"MILBO, GET US OUT OF HERE!" Ozbon yelled, so loudly that it almost deafened out the warning sounds. "Fletcher, Sonrey, you two, get into the engine room, give milbo as much power as he needs." Sonrey nodded as they floated back.

"We're at full power Ozbon!" Fletcher yelled.

As the cabin became a noise whirlwind, filled with beeps, alarms, and the three of them yelling, it was apparent that Ozbon was really a very capable person. The situation would have made a crying baby of anyone else. But not him. The ship was now facing the planet, as Milbo fired the engines to get back into the atmosphere.

"It's useless!" Milbo screamed, "The Kraken is pulling us into its grasp!"

"HOW?" Ozbon said frantically looking for a switch. Sonrey looked over at his panel of science, and he yelled back,

"The Kraken is generating a magnetic field! It's pulling the ship into its grasp!" The Panel bleeped it's last bleep, and then the screen died. Along with the lights in the ship, but were soon taken over by the emergency lights, that glowed a dark red. With a sudden and very loud crash, one side of the ship partially caved in. White fumes sprayed everywhere, the air became hard to breathe.

"Everyone get your helmets on!" Ozbon commanded, and nobody argued. Everyone floated over to retrieve their helmets. Sonrey put his on, to be relieved as air filled his lung. Fletcher was already hard at work trying to pop the hull back into place. He was using a carjack of some variety to push the hull back outwards. Ozbon floated over to help him. Sonrey had no use now that his station was dead. So he got to work patching a Bust tube that was spraying into the cockpit.

Looking over at Milbo, he said,

"I guess you were right. We aren't going to live forever." He chuckled nervously as Milbo cracked a smile at him. His face turned serious.

"I am right." he said. "But today, I'm not allowing us to die to this big ugly space slug."

Sonrey noticed a particularly loud console to the left of him. It read:

_Second rocket launch detected. Stay clear of designated path._

"Ozbon! They're sending Help!" He yelled in glee.

"What"s the vessel's codename?" Fletcher asked. Sonrey looked through the mass amounts of data, and found it.

"Sprout 1!" He replied. Fletcher floated over as the ship began to buckle and churn.

"That's no ship. That's a missile."

"Why do they have a missile!?" Sonrey's voice cracked as he yelled.

"They told us that it was needed in case that an asteroid was going to impact kerbin. We built fourteen right before we finished this ship." They were interrupted by Ozbon yelling for help.

They floated to the backroom, where Ozbon had his leg stuck in the carjack, and a fire had started. Sonrey got the extinguisher, and began spraying, but the fire was growing rapidly. Ozbon got out with the help of fletcher, but the fire crept up, and it was clear that they needed something stronger than a fire extinguisher. Sonrey flew over to the airlock.

"EVERYONE GRAB SOMETHING" he yelled, and opened the airlock.

The air rushed out of the ship, nearly taking him with it, and everyone held on for dear life. He looked for a split second at what was happening to the ship. Three massive tentacles were gripping the ship, they appeared to be trying to work the ship into smaller pieces. Looking the other way, he saw the mythical creature's mouth, It was a blacker than the night sky with no stars. He looked back into the ship, as The fire extinguished itself and he closed the door. Everyone stopped to get their bearings.

"I don't mean to sound pessimistic but…" Sonrey paused. "We aren't going to make this." Fletcher turned to ozbon, who was to the left of him.

"Well Ozbon? What do we do?" The missile was one minute from hitting them.

Ozbon looked grimly at the series of events that had just occurred, and muttered, "What can we do?" He looked out the porthole, at the stars outside, and softly said, "We're doomed." In an instant as he said this, A tentacle lashed through the viewport, grabbing Ozbon by the neck.

"GET IT OFF HIM!" Milbo yelled, as he frantically tried to compensate for the damage to the ship's engines. Fletcher Grabbed the tentacle, But to no use, It wouldn't move. Ozbon was being choked, now things just got serious.

Sonrey knew something had to be done. As the missile got closer, he made a split-second decision, and the only thing that had a chance of saving them. Turning the ship back around, while facing the jaws of the monster, He Turned on what was last of the fuel, and the ship slowly pushed through to the black void.

The ship flew into the mouth, mere seconds before the missile impacted the kraken, in a burst of color and flame. Inside, The four of them were in chaos. Systems were crushed, The Computers melted, and the windows cracked. The tentacle let go as it must have been like choking on a finger. Getting up, Sonrey tried to fix a leak of gasoline, but the parts were spread around the ship like snow in a snowglobe. The ship was rocking furiously, and a ball peen hammer ricocheted off of Sonrey's helmet, Putting a crack in it. The radio in his helmet was disabled. All he heard was the emptiness of space, and the sound of his own breathing. The engines were beyond repair, and that was coupled with no oxygen or control of the ship, they were dead in the water. Milbo yelled something at sonrey, and pointed, but he couldn't hear. He turned around, and what was left of the oxygen tank exploded, filling the ship full of pressure and pushing Sonrey into the ceiling support. He was coshed hard over the head and the last thing he saw before he slipped out of consciousness was his three friends closing the broken window's hatch.

**Intermission - A Secret meeting**.

"How could you?" Jaxson gripped his papers in in anger. " You told me unmanned." He rolled up his crumpled paper into a tube and continued, "and not only that, but you sent the kid I Almost considered my son!" There before him was three shadows.

"SILENCE!" The right shadow bellowed.

"At the moment, I don't believe you are in the position to make any demands, Jaxson." The left one snarled. "Not only that, but your calculations were..." he paused. "Less than accurate."

"You told us fourteen!" The middle one growled. "Why then did we only get ONE?!"

"I'm not working for the likes of you." Jaxson sneered. "I won't tell you squat, and you three can't possibly torture it out of me." The three shadows sat silent. "Admit it. You've got no hope." He began to walk away when he was interrupted.

"You might not want to work for us anymore." The middle one admitted. "But… You forget our little secret."

"You wouldn't dare." Jaxson muttered, looking over his shoulder.

"Oh but we would. The world hasn't forgotten about our little 'Contender' accident you were responsible for." The left one said. "In fact. I do believe we were the ones who lied through our teeth for you. So you could keep your job. In return all you had to do was help us attract a few kracken.

"The 'Contender' was an accident. You know that." Jaxson replied.

"Perhaps so, but who will the press believe? Us three? Or one lowly, inexperienced, rocket scientist?" Jaxson gritted his teeth.

"You expect that to make a difference? Compared to your Murder?" A bead of sweat dripped down his face.

"Oh it was a necessary sacrifice." The right one said, full of certainty, "And as far as the press knows, it was a freak accident… Yes, a freak accident, caused by a misguided Professor." He chuckled a bit, as he watched Jackson's fury grow. "Yes, in fact I do believe that's what the papers will say. 'PROFESSOR FOUND GUILTY OF QUADRUPLE HOMICIDE' Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"

"I… I'll..." Jaxson was filled with pure hate. "I'll work for you." The middle one stirred in his seat.

"I'm glad we could come to an agreement, let's hope we don't come to regret it." He turned to the other two shadows and the all nodded to each other."Bill, Bob, and Jebediah go up in two months."

"WHAT!?" Jaxson yelled.

"DISMISSED!" The right one bellowed.

Jaxson left the room. And the three shadows stood still.


	12. The First Encounter

Chapter 10 - The First Encounter

Time: March 26, 2016 16:44

His vision focused in on his helmet's visor, looking at the Time on the display. The Space behind was clear. Space was just as clear as the rest of the year. In fact, it was always clear. Because space never changes, only accented by stars and almost opaque scratches on the helmet. The thoughts were interrupted by his radio turning on.

"Todd, how goes the repair?" It was his commander, Victor Hammond. Todd shook his head clear.

"Almost done here." He looked back at the mess of wire. "It's looking… like perhaps a few more minutes."He tugged at the largest bundle of wire that ran from the station to the solar panel. The wire was fried at the connector. "Perhaps an hour or so."

"Well, hurry it up. We had to take off secondary systems temporarily." He ended the radio.

"_Now that he's done," _He thought to himself, "_Time for some tunes." _ He looked down at his wrist, where the radio controls were.

He scrolled down through his playlist entitled '70's-80's Hits' Until he came to a stop at 'Jackson 5 - I Want You Back'. He began to work to the beat, and hummed along to the lyrics.

"_When I had you to myself, I didn't want you around_

_Those pretty faces always made you stand out in a crowd_

_But someone picked you from the bunch, one glance was all it took_

_Now it's much too late for me to take a second look…"_

He looked around the nearby area for his screwdriver to unscrew the panel. He saw it a foot from his face, tethered to the station.

"_Trying to live without your love is one long sleepless night_

_Let me show you, girl, that I know wrong from right_

_Every street you walk on, I leave tear stains on the ground_

_Following the girl I didn't even want around..."_

He began on the first screw, and lost grip of it as it came off the panel. He reached out as it flew behind him.

"_No you don't you slippery little bugger." _He thought to himself.

He caught it just as his tether pulled him back.

"Todd: one, Screw: Ze... ro." He almost paused as he saw something flicker behind him. It looked like an electrical spark. Was it the panel? No. Not in the same direction. He looked beyond the hull of the ISS.

A second one. It was hard to tell how far away it was just by the naked eye, but he turned off his music.

A third one. Bigger. It was like a bolt of lightning in space.

"Todd! Get back inside! Our instruments in here are going off the charts!" Victor yelled over the radio. Mission control came on the radio too.

"_Alpha Station, do you have a visual on what is going on out there?"_

"None yet, but we have a man outside doing repair to the west solar panel array."

"_Alright, we request that you immediately initiate emergency evacuation protocol. We believe that it may be a rare phenomenon where the space around earth is turning into a nebula of some sort."_  
"Right ISS Out." Victor directed his voice back to Todd. ' Todd, you need to get back in here. Now!" He vanished from the cupola module a few yards away.

The lighting became more and more intense. Soon five, six bolts flew across space at a time, in an impressive, but nonetheless frightening display. He worked his tether off of the hook, and climbed his way to the nearest airlock. At this point, the bolts were forming a sort of ring. But he had little time for speculation. He had to get back into the station. Opening the door, he began to get inside, first one leg, then the other. As he closed the door, he realized he hadn't untethered his suit, and the door was stuck on the line. The ring of lighting outside began to smoke, and he felt himself being tugged back out into space.

"_ISS, this is mission control, the nebula has appeared to morph into a rip in space that none of your sensors can identify. Does anyone have a visual?"_ Todd was pulled out of the hatch.

"I do." He pulled himself back to the station, and drug himself to a good visual point.

"_What do you see up there?" _They asked expectantly.

The lighting began to intensify. and the glow bright every other second. It sped up. Faster, and faster. A sort of smoke appeared from the rim of the lighting.

"Mission control. I think what we have here is a wormhole."

"_Come again? Did you say 'Wormhole'" _

"That's right. I remember those old episodes of Star Trek, and this kind of reminds me of it."

"_Station Alpha, are you basing this speculation off of Star Trek?" _They sounded skeptic.

"Well you guys don't have any better idea. No offence."

"_Whatever the case may be, You need to get off of the station. It's far too dangerous." _Todd looked at the wormhole in awe, It Vibrated with lavender lightning.

"Agreed. I'm entering the station-" He was cut off by the wormhole sending off one final charge of electricity. It ran in many directions, thankfully, he was not one of them. It disappeared. The sky turned back to it's regular black.

"_ISS? We're reading that the phenomenon has disappeared suddenly. Does anyone have any visual on it?" _Silence. "_ISS?" _Todd answered.

"Negative, it's gone."

"_Conditions have appeared to return to normal. No damage to any major systems up there, it would look like you can return back to the station." _Victor answered before Todd could.

"Roger that mission control, What do you suppose that was?"

"_After judging what Mr. Gibbs stated, we believe that a temporary wormhole opened up, and we just happened to have been next to it. It most likely dissipated due to lack of energy to keep it stable, or perhaps-"_

"It was dropping off its cargo." Todd interrupted.

"_Come again, ISS?"_

"A wormhole can theoretically transport something from one place on the galaxy to another, correct? Well, what if it dissipated because it dropped something off?"

"_As unlikely as that is, we'll look for any UFO's, meanwhile, you should check for any damage to systems because of-..." _They cut off.

"Control?" Victor asked.

"_ISS. Please check for a visual on the area where the phenomena was."_

"Todd? That's you." Victor said. Todd unhooked himself, and floated over for a minute to the other side, where the panels appeared to be fine. A few seconds later, he hooked himself to the edge, and got a good position on his chest. He strained his eyes to look. He saw nothing.

A shadow passed over him, along with a horrible chill.

He rolled over onto his back where the shadow was, and he saw it about twenty feet out from the hull. A cylindrical object With a conical top, and an open engine.

"_Todd! Your heart level just jumped to 110! What's the matter?"_

"I think we have a problem."


	13. Unfamiliar Faces

Chapter 11 - Unfamiliar Faces

"UGhh. My head." Sonrey felt a pain on the back of his scalp. A drop of red blood floated in his helmet. "_Still in space."_ He swore silently under his breath. and floated over to Milbo. "What happened, are we safe?" He shook Milbo's shoulder and realized he was out cold. "Come on! Get up!"

No response.

He was still breathing, so obviously he was alive. Just asleep at the wheel. If a wheel still remained.

"Son-rey?" The country accent came from back by the engine.

"Fletcher!" He was relieved to see a familiar face. Fletcher floated over and his eyes went wide. "You're bleeding!" He was unusually alarmed over a bit of blood.

"Just a scratch." He cracked a forced smile.

"What's that? I can't hear what you said." He went to grab Sonrey's helmet.

"I said, it's just a scratch." he swatted away the hand. "And before we go taking off any helmets, we need to check the damage of the ship first."

"I. Can't. Hear. You." Fletcher said, annoyed.

"_Great. My helmet is broken." _He gave the universal code for broken helmet by knocking on his head twice.

"Got it." Fletcher confirmed.

Just then, the whole ship rocked, and the interior's blue light came on.

"Is that?" Fletcher started, and looked at the only working panel in the ship. "Guys!" He yelled in glee. "We're safe! The emergency auto-dock kicked in! We're attaching to KSS now!"

Sonrey looked out the remaining viewport and saw through the burnt glass an outline of a solar panel. It was impressive that the auto dock survived the attack. Come to think of it, where was the Kraken? He looked over at fletcher.

"Huh. Kraken's nowhere to be found." At least. not that our scanner can detect. "Oh well, it doesn't really matter. We're safe now!"

Sonrey looked back out the viewport, and rubbed at the burnt glass, as the ship rocked, and became docked with the station. Somehow, he felt that this wasn't over.

"Sonrey…" The groggy voice of Milbo pierced the silence.

"Don't bother, Milbo, his helmet is broke." Fletcher answered for him.

"I see. Where's Ozbon?"

"Not sure, look about." Fletcher hit the side of the panel as it flickered and died.

"I'm right here." A voice in pain responded. Ozbon was wedged head-first in a snackbox in the passenger's seat by the engine.

"Well, now that the gang's all here." Fletcher looked about at the three of them, let's go get to the KSS.

"We docked?" Ozbon asked. he threw the metal box off his head.

"Yep, all thanks to the autodock." Fletcher said, patting the hull, and it bent furiously out of shape.

Sonrey rubbed harder at the glass, trying to get a better view. Finally it came off, and KSS came int-

No.

Not the KSS.

He pointed furiously at the window.

The other three got the signal, and floated over.

On the side of the large hull read some strange symbols:

"ıuʇǝɹuɐʇıouɐן sdɐɔǝ sʇɐʇıou"

"What in the- When was that built?" Fletcher asked. "We weren't out for more than an hour!"

"I don't think that's our station, Fletcher." Ozbon noted.

"Well if that's not ours, then who in the galaxy is it?" Fletcher brought up a very valid point. Who else in the galaxy could possibly have such advanced technology as them? The final click of the doors latching, and the blue light shutting off was indication that they had docked.

"_I guess we'll find out who these guys are soon enough."_


	14. Unwanted Guests

Chapter 12 - Unwanted guests

"TODD!" Victor yelled at him as he took off his suit's helmet. "What took you so long!?"

"You know how long it takes to close these damn doors." Todd retorted. He looked about and saw the commotion, of his shipmates floating about and working in overtime.

"I see you guys noticed the alien craft."

"No, in fact we're just trying to hide for your surprise birthday party." Victor said with his usual supreme sarcasm. They floated over to the cupola module. Inside was the the 180 degree viewports, through the seven windows that usually gave you a great view. Right now, they were all closed up, following procedure for an emergency. "YES WE NOTICED." Victor continued, pulled up on a monitor, the current state of ISS. "As you can see, that little power failure earlier prevented docking overrides, and a whole manner of other things." He flipped to another screen in the command module. "Not only that, but that damn ship is sending us all of it's information, and the computer can't handle the Alien data format." He turned back to victor, and turned stern. "Unless we can stop that ship from transmitting, we're going to lose all systems within an hour."

"Alright, I get the point." Todd said, usual smug look wiped off his face. The stakes sure were higher now. "Where did they dock?"

"Here." Victor pointed at the layout, "At PMA 2."

The International space station was divided into a lot of smaller modules, some were russian built, but most were U.S. or E.U. Built. The southern side held the the docking node 'Harmony' and to either side was the 'Columbus' and '_Kibō_' Laboratories. Connecting the southern half to the center was the 'Destiny' Laboratory. The center of the whole space station was aptly named 'Unity', and it connected to the airlock he had just entered from. The 'Cupola' Module was located on the 'Tranquility' module, and the northernmost side was dominated by the russian station parts.

"How is it possible that these have the exact same docking port size as us?" Todd inquired. Victor looked over at the largest computer screen and pointed at the one with a large warning triangle with the words 'Imminent system failure' in red. "Okay, I can take a hint." Todd floated down to the connector module, took a left to the docking port that the craft was docked at.

There were no windows where the manual override was located. So all that truly separated him from a gruesome fate with a large, snake monster with neurotoxin, and three inch claws, was half an inch of metal. He gulped, and kept working.

"ALRIGHT EVERYONE!" Victor bellowed through the intercom. "Set your watches to ten minutes, if we can't save our ship… Our home, before the systems go offline… We've been ordered to abandon ship."

"_Abandon?... Okay todd. Time to get to work."_

A few minutes, and a burnt fuse later, and Todd was no closer to detaching the craft. The others had no luck either. Phil got electrocuted, and Andei almost caught the station on fire. The last few minuted approached agonizingly quick.

"Alright… It's been nine minutes." Victor said with a grim sound over the intercom. He lost his regular sarcasm. "If we're no further to getting a solution, we need to abandon ship. Now."

It wasn't very often that Todd admitted defeat. But this time. Victor was right.

Unless.

A glint of an idea sparked in his brain.

Picking up a microphone, he asked Victor,

"Why don't we try calling them?" A brief moment of silence before Victor responded.

"That has to be single-handedly the worst idea anyone has ever had." Victor stopped, and sighed. "And besides you know the procedures regarding extraterrestrials. No communication until superiors approve, and ya-da ya-da, so on and so forth."

"Well let's ask them." Todd replied.

"What?" Victor sounded worried. Todd turned the mic to communicate with mission control.

"Mission control, What would you say is our primary order at the moment?"

"_To reduce civilian and crewman casualties by a possible destruction of ISS?" _A gravel voice replied.

"Thank you mission control, that's all" He turned the mic back to Victor. "They said Yes."

"Wait what-?" Victor was cut off mid-sentence.

Todd floated over a few meters to the console that was receiving the Alien data. He looked through it, to try and find some sort of communication device. The ship was feeding too much to read however, so he turned his eyes to the communication array.

It took some fiddling, and a bit of luck. But he finally found a frequency that picked up some jargon. In a few short seconds, he would be first man to speak to aliens.

"Sonrey. We're in deep, deep trouble." Milbo said. His large pale green face was a lot whiter. Sonrey didn't bother responding, because it wouldn't matter. In a few moments, whatever monsters lie beyond that airlock would be able to probe, dissect, and mutilate whatever they wanted with their bodies. "Is it possible to detach?" Milbo asked fletcher.

"Not with the damage we've taken. We're lucky to have docked." He said.

The four of them sat there in silence, wondering how this would turn out. Fletcher broke the silence.

"Hey Ozbon, look at this." Ozbon compiled and floated over. The last remaining panel on the dashboard was showing a long list of data. It was written in the same symbols on the ship that they had docked at. "I wonder what it means, perhaps-" he was cut off by something that caused all but sonrey to shriek in pain, and claw at their helmets.

"AGGHH!" all three screamed. The display of frantic bodies made sonrey sick. Luckily for his stomach, they stopped a half second later.

"What was that?" Ozbon looked around, tapping his helmet.

"I can't say. It must've been our helmets. Sonrey's is broke, so he must not have heard it." Milbo replied.

Before anyone could reply, the three of them stopped, faces Paler than the Mun. An ominous voice came over the headsets, heard by all but sonrey.

"_¿ǝɯ ɹɐǝɥ noʎ uɐɔ ¿o__ןן__ǝɥ"_

"Who is this?" Ozbon asked

"_¡dıɥs ɹno ƃuıʎoɹʇsǝp ǝɹɐ noʎ 'ǝʌɐǝ__ן __oʇ noʎ pǝǝu ǝʍ ¿ǝɯ ƃuıpuɐʇsɹǝpun noʎ ǝɹɐ"_

"I ask again, WHO IS THIS?" Ozbon asked, more concerned than the last. The voice did not reply. "Hello?"

No response.

"What in Kerbol was that?" Milbo asked, shaken.

"It was… Something." Fletcher said, But they all were equally confused.

"Ozbon, perhaps we should think about alternatives to staying in here." Milbo said. "We're going to run out of food, and we need to tend to Sonrey's injury. He might have a concussion." Sonrey admitted to himself that he was getting a bit of a headache.

"Well, what do you suggest?" Ozbon replied, "We let ourselves get tortured beyond belief by those, those, monsters?" Fletcher piped up,

"Maybe they just want to chat?" Skepticism filled the cockpit.

They argued for a few more moments. Sonrey had no input. Partially because he didn't want to, and part because he couldn't. He decided it was time that someone made a decision around here. He floated over from the charred window, and to the hatch lock, behind the cockpit controls.

"Sonrey! What are you doing?"

He didn't look back.

"Todd!" Victor yelled. "Come on! We don't have much time!"

Todd had gotten through to something, whether it was an alien, or a HAM radio on the earth, was anybody's guess. The time had run out though, and he needed to leave.

In the last few weeks, these metal walls had become a home for him. It was like a safe refuge from all people and crowds back on earth, from the bosses, co-workers… Parents. His parents never really believed in their son. The moment he wanted to become an astronaut, they told him otherwise. Every decision he made was countered, what to wear, who to date, where to live, you name it, his parents wanted control. But not up here, up here, the silence of space and his vintage cassettes was the control over him. A butterfly filled his stomach. They rounded the corner, where an injured Anton was flagging them down to get in.

Anton was Ukrainian, moved to Moscow as a baby, and was adopted by a pair of newlyweds. He never knew his real parents, other than the fact that his father died of stomach cancer, and his mother left him to go in pursuit of the life of luxuries.

Victor was Canadian, born to a military life. His father was a Lieutenant General, and his mother was a military nurse. Todd never was told how Victor's parents met, only that they hate each other now.

"Come on!" Anton yelled. "I'm told there's to be a party for us if we get out fast enough, no?"

The two of them were about fifty feet away from him when the lights all turned off, replaced by red warning lights. There was only two things that could trigger this: A lack of pressurisation, or an unauthorized ship entrance.

"Oh no." Victor whispered.

"_They're on board."_

"Sonrey!" Milbo floated over Sonrey. "Don't do this, We have no idea what those things on the other side are, They could have horrible diseases yet to be named by Kermanity, we don't even know if they breathe in the same as us." Sonrey paid no attention to him. It was about time that action was taken. "Sonrey, think of us! Your friends! Don't do this!"

Sonrey shook his head.

With one swift movement, the Door opened up, and the cabin was filled with what must've been oxygen. He locked the door into its docked position, and suddenly, sparks flew from the door.

His eyes adjusted to the unfamiliar surroundings. The inside was large. Really Large. In comparison to him, the room would fit five of him stacked. There was a panel of some sort, smoldering. Elsewhere, the craft seemed to go on and on. Fletcher floated behind him, holding out a lit match.

"Well, it's oxygen alright. I think we can take our helmets off."

They all took off their helmets, and the ever familiar smell of burnt metal came back, as well as the whole craft turning a dark red, with what must've been emergency lights.

"I think they noticed us." Milbo said with a cocky smile.

"Maybe I could look at their control panel, wherever that is, see what I can see." Fletcher looked about. There were loads of them, all flashing the same red lettering.

"You do that" Sonrey said, "I'll look about for something to stop this bleeding." He motioned to the back of his head, where the cut was still open.

"Sonrey, might I have a word with you?" Ozbon motioned to float to the side. He looked like a mix of fear, curiosity, but most of all, alive. It was the first time since they were kids that he looked to be enjoying himself. They stopped by a closet of some kind.

"What would you like to talk about?" Sonrey asked.

"Well, it's rather embarrassing, but." He sighed "Back when that... thing attacked us, I-I Wanted to apologize for losing my temper. I've been in many near death situations, but…" He paused, as though trying to gather his words. "Out of all those, never once were one of my friends in danger."

Sonrey took a deep breath of the alien air. "Wow. I-I never knew how much we mattered to you. After all these years, I had thought we had just grown too far apart." Sonrey cracked a smile, "But don't worry, if we all end up going down, at least we'll go down together." He playfully punched Ozbon's shoulder.

"Sorry to interrupt your bro moment, but it looks like we have another real big problem here." Fletcher pointed to the panel he had been fiddling with.

"It looks like these guys siphoned all our information from our ship's computer, Flight data, blueprints, everything."

"You've got to be kidding." Ozbon looked over at Fletcher.

"Wish I was, partner, but these letters are definitely ours."

He was right, the lettering was intelligible, but the data was overflowing the craft.

"See what more you can gather from that panel." Sonrey said with a nod. " Ozbon and I will take a look about." They both grabbed their helmets, and began to float off. "Oh, and one more thing," Sonrey stopped. "Don't split up."

Back in the craft, Todd, Victor and anton had gotten situated for the emergency ride home.

"The other two ships are already starting their descent, we've got to hurry this up." Victor looked at anton, as he was frantically working to go through the undocking procedures.

"I'm sorry sir, But, ship is experiencing system overload. It's preventing us from detaching." He replied.

"Keep working then. But make it quick." Victor turned to todd,

"You alright there, Kid?"

Todd was deep in thought, looking out the viewport that sat directly in front of him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking what to tell everyone when we back home." He looked out at the sun as it drifted out of view from the Earth's horizon. Victor put his hand on his knee, and gave him a fatherly look.

"Me too kid, Me too."

A few moments of silence passed, with Anton almost finishing up the last of the procedures.

"All ready?" Anton put the binder back into the overhead shelf. "Hope you remembered all your things."

Todd and victor did a quick pat-down of themselves, and Todd froze in horror.

"No-no-nononono! I left it in my bunk!" He unbuckled and began to open the hatch.

"TODD! GET BACK IN HERE! WHATEVER YOU LEFT ISN'T WORTH YOUR LIFE!" Victor yelled, making a vein pop in his forehead. Anton leaned forward in the capsule.

"Now I have to redo the procedure!" He muttered something that sounded like 'Chertov idsuot'

"Listen, This is my only worthy possession in the world. I need my Rubik's Cube."

"YOUR WHAT?!" Victor was flabbergasted. "What if those things are on board? They might have half-a-million diseases! We Can't just take you back to Earth if you could kill the whole population!"

"Then leave without me! I have nobody who cares for me on earth." Todd began to float into the ship.

"Should we leave him, Victor?" Anton asked.

"No. We'll wait." he replied

Sonrey and Ozbon were in awe at how large the ship was, much larger than most buildings on Kerbin. The two of them floated by sparking panels, only lit by the ambient red warning light. The two of them found a section that extended up, and they floated up.

It was a tight fit, but they finally got into the room. It was a room surrounded by computers. Each was flashing a series of messages in the strange symbols.

"What a strange idea. Putting all the computers in one room. Makes no sense." Ozbon said, looking about.

"Strange yes, but it helps us. Tell Fletcher to meet us up here." Sonrey replied, and Ozbon called him over his headset.

In a few short moments, fletcher arrived.

"Wow. It's a maze in here." Milbo poked through the corridor.

"We nearly got lost a few times"

Fletcher got to work at looking through the mass information. Milbo looked about at the room.

"Huh. there seems to be a camera out there." He pointed at the screen.

The screen showed what looked to be the outside of the room they were in. I wonder what this stick does. The view moved to show a set of large solar panels.

"I think i got this." He fiddled with the controls, but his pilot instinct kicked in. He rotated the camera around until he saw their ship. It was definitely damaged and scorched, no way to leave in that hunk of junk. Rotating further, it moved to a view of what appeared to be the planet they had arrived at. It was a very large planet, but all they saw was a white fluff at what seemed to be a north or south pole. Lowering the camera revealed what they'd stumbled upon.

It was a large planet, much larger than Kerbin. But the size was nothing compared to the lights. The darkness that had fallen onto the planet turned it into a big light show, with a large cluster of them on a massive peninsula, surrounded by small seas and islands. Going further inland, the lights dimmed, and reached a point where none existed for kilometers at a time. The Planet had a strange blue-green atmosphere as you looked upon the horizon.

"Whoa." They all muttered. Despite the tiny computer screen, it was enough to be in awe of the planet. Fletcher shook his head, and went back to work. It reminded the other three that they should get back to work too.

"Okay, you two stay here." Ozbon pointed at Milbo and fletcher. "Sonrey and I will keep looking." They nodded, and the two of them went back to the computers.

Sonrey and Ozbon floated back down to the main level. They took a left, and continued on their way. On their way, they passed by an entire room of plants.

"Look at this!" Sonrey exclaimed, he pointed at one of the largest plants. There was a label, but it was in the strange symbols. it read: '_ʇuɐ__ן__d ɐǝd'_

"Is it edible?" Ozbon inquired, poking at the plant with his space glove.

"Good question." Sonrey ripped off a stalk, and shoved it into his mouth… And immediately took it back out. "Yeach. These creatures have awful tastes."

"We should keep moving." Ozbon chuckled.

The hall stretched on and on. They passed strange equipment, and loads of cabinets, only lit dimly by the red lights. Strange objects floated about in the zero g environment.

"Hold on, I want to check in here." Sonrey stopped by what looked like a thin broom closet. The door slid open, and inside was some sort of bed. It had a strap that held the sheets on. But something caught his eye. A cube of some sort. Reaching in, he grabbed it, and began to observe it in more detail. It had a three-by-three grid, and what looked to be 6 colors.

"What is it?" Ozbon floated over.

"No clue. But it might be important." Sonrey tapped at the cube, and the column of colors began to rotate.

"Careful!" Ozbon hissed. "We don't know what that does."

"Perhaps it's a storage device of some sort?" Sonrey kept rotating the colors aimlessly. "We had really ought to get this to fletcher." Ozbon nodded.

A minute later, they were back at the control room.

"Find anything - or anyone?" Fletcher asked.

"We found this." He handed him the cube. "We think it might be a data storage device." Sonrey said.

"I remember doing things like this back home." Fletcher fiddled with the box. "If I'm correct, then there should be nine of each color, and to get each color to a side, you need to move the colors like so." He began to rotate the cube, slowly at first, but then he sped up, letting his brain do the work without thinking. The cube was slowly taking shape, In a few moments he would be done.

Todd frantically looked through his bunk. "No! Nonono!" He screamed. His rubik's cube was missing. All that was in his bunk now was a picture of his parents, and a Jell-o Cup. Todd racked his brain for an answer. Then a thought popped into his mind. "_the Cupola Module!" _He grabbed the Jell-o, Braced his foot against the nearest doorway, and pushed with all his strength, sending him flying toward the module.

Fletcher was nearly done with the cube, one turn away in fact, when he stopped.

"What if it's a bomb?"

"EAUGH!" The other three screamed and pushed away from the cube.

"You tell us this now, why?" Milbo screamed. Fletcher tossed the cube at Sonrey.

"Well don't give it to me!" A few seconds of hot potato, and sonrey ended up with the cube. Sonrey stopped. Something caught him out of the corner of his eye. He turned to look at at. And his heart stopped.

Todd was a mere moment away from the module when he saw it. Three tiny figures who were pushed out of the cupola module. He stopped dead in his tracks.

One of them screamed something, and looked at him. One thought crossed his mind:

"_Aliens."_


	15. The Undermine

Chapter 13 - The Undermine

Location: Good ol' Kerbin, At Jaxson's office.

"Outrageous! Just inconceivable evil in those men!" Jaxson shouted, Slamming the door behind him. The Space Kraken corpse was being harvested for its vanadium just off the shore of the Space Center, after three rockets struck it in orbit.

"Problem, sir?" The young kerbal answered.

"Linus, call up the Committee. We're holding an emergency meeting. Tell them, it's emergency code: Bop." Jaxson motioned toward the phone.

Linus, was as fresh as they came, Still an adolescent, but earned a spot as Wernher's brand new intern a month before. Wernher requested for a secretary boy to stand in for him at the useless advisor meetings, saying that they were a waste of time, unworthy of his presence. Still, Linus was a good sort, a bit absent at times, but a bright student nevertheless. He didn't like being alone with the other staff, so he often came to Jaxson's office to get away.

"Sir, they want to know what snack materials to bring." Linus chimed in over Jaxson's internal monologue.

"Tell them this is a serious meeting, so drinks and finger sandwiches only." Jaxson got his pen and paper, while linus went back to the phone.

There was a storm brewing inside of the KSP, one that had to be shut down, and Jaxson was willing to take the fall if it meant toppling over the corrupt individuals too. Linus had finished the call, so they both grabbed their coats, and headed to the secret location.

They arrived at the warehouse just outside the city of Kerbin an hour later. City naming creativity was not a strong suit for their kind. The warehouse was actually an old garage, That was prosperous before the owners, Oliver and his son, lost the permit to run the business in the toilet. It was getting dark as they pushed open the front door.

"There he is!" Wernher walked over from the card table that sat firmly in the middle of the room. Along with him was the other two members, Fred and Russell. Wernher held out his arm, and Jaxson shook it. "This was a codeword Bop, Jaxson. What's going on?"

"KSP is corrupt." He said, the folks surrounding the card table stirred up a bit, but only Wernher spoke.

"Jaxson, should Linus be here?" asked Fred.

"Why not?" Jaxson slapped Linus's back, and made him stumble a bit in surprise. "Trust me, we'll need as much help as we can get for what I'm going to propose."

They took seats around the card table, and Jaxson began:

"Friends, I've gathered you all here, because KSP does not stand for what it was meant. It was supposed to forward science for the betterment of us all. But instead, the whole purpose just seems to me, like a bigger paycheck for those in charge. The death toll may not have mattered until now, but with Sonrey and his friends killed, we have to stand against those greedy corporate scumbags, and not one more dead. After we take out the KSP we once knew, not again will we send off another youngster to their death. I know you all have known me for a very long time, and I'm not forcing anyone into this, and I'll do it myself if i have to, but know this: If there is no struggle, there is no progress. The time has to be now, and I doubt I'm not alone, so who's with me?"

The table roared in agreement, all except Linus, who had fallen asleep in his chair. Wernher slapped the back of his head, and he reflexively cheered in agreement.

But as the night went on, they schemed, Plotted, planned and argued. They had the best source of infiltration, because they all worked in KSP, and in good positions too. They needed dirt on the Corrupt individuals, namely, who they were, and proof that they were knowingly sending innocent lives for their own profit. They'd also need political favors, and lots of them, because the KSP was half of the planet's expenses. They reached a consensus to get everything they could in the next two weeks, and finish phase 2 there, in the garage when they could throw all the evidence in the judge's face.

After they all left, Jaxson and Linus took a route to go visit with an old friend, late at night.


	16. A Tin Can in Space

Chapter 14 - A Tin Can in Space

Location: Back at the weirdo's planet.

Sonrey's feet went cold, and his hand shook. There was an alien. What would it do? Suck his brains out with three feet long nose tentacles? Upon looking, he noticed how slenderly built the alien was. That being said, He also had a tiny head, and could beat Sonrey into submission, given enough time. The alien, was in a white jumpsuit, that looked reminiscent of his own, but his didn't have mittens. Perhaps the beings can survive in space? But how pale it was! It was a creamy, ill-looking color, and not the healthy green that all beings were. He noticed it was slowly reaching for the cube in sonrey's hand.

Fletcher motioned at the cube, and gave a notion to ask him what it was.

"Is this a bomb?" He asked, having almost forgotten it was in his hand. Fletcher held his forehead in his hands. The creature inched closer to the colorful cube. If it was a bomb, then this species sure were stupid to willingly get closer to it. Fletcher slunk back into the command room.

The creature said something in gibberish, unintelligible to any of them. It pulled something out of his pocket, still getting closer. It looked like a container of liquid, that wobbled as it moved. It spoke again, holding out the container, as if he was offering it to him. Only inches away now, it reached out with its other hand and went for the cube. The creature grabbed at him, going for the cube, but Sonrey pulled back, also knocking the container it held, out of its hand, and into Milbo's arms. Milbo squeezed the container a bit. The creature went wide eyed, and yelled at him. But it was too late. The container exploded in a red mess. Sonrey's face was splattered with the gel, and he did what he was trained to do, as he shoved as much as he could into his mouth at once.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, guys!" he shouted. "This is great!" The others began to lick it off of themselves too. It was a sweet, and gel-like, with a red hue. The old Kerbin adage came into mind "If you can trust a Kerb's food, You can trust them too."

"Can I get this recipe?" Ozbon asked. The creature eased up, and made what sounded like a chuckle. Almost on cue, the station's red lights went dark.

But then the lights returned. The whole place lit back up, with a huge spectrum of colors, green blips, blue lights, and most of it was a wash of white.

"Fixed it!" Fletcher yelled.

The creature looked around in awe, and began to laugh, holding his mouth in his hand, to cover a smile. It said something and grabbed milbo in his arms. Why was he so ecstatic about some crummy station, was anyone's guess. Moments later, two more creatures floated around the corner, and stopped dead in their space tracks. Clearly not used to the sight of aliens.

"_I can't believe they actually did it!"_ Todd thought to himself as he laughed, "You guys saved the station!" He hugged the middle one, but put him down, as he smelled faintly of cabbage. Victor and Anton rounded the corner, and stopped when they saw the little green men. He called out to them; "It's alright you two, these four saved the station, and no butts have been probed."

"Todd, if I ever manage to unsee that picture, I will pay you my salary." Victor replied, still uneasy about the uninvited guests. "Anton, get back to work on communication with Mission control. I'll deal with our friends here." He opened up a compartment, and pulled out a rope tether.

"Victor, what are you doing?" Todd asked, as he floated over to block his path.

"Just following protocol." Victor pushed him aside. "In case you forgot, the United Nations declared in the 60's to sterilize any and all aliens before contact." He floated closer to the group of them.

"Then why am I not getting the impression that you're going to give them a sponge bath?" He retorted, as a book floated past.

"Todd, Like I always say, nothing like a little fire to clean up a mess." He motioned around the room. "And this 'mess' is all their fault."

"But they saved the station!" Todd grabbed the tether from him.

"This isn't your call to make." Victor pushed todd against the wall, and put his finger in todd's face. "It wasn't your call to try and talk to these freaks, nor was it yours to go back for some stupid toy!" He pointed at the rubik's cube. "Now the U.S. was perfectly content with getting us all off, and destroying the station, but then you, and your childish whims, got in the way!" Victor pushed back, grabbing the rope back. "Now stand aside, I'm still your commanding officer."

Victor turned back to the group of the aliens, who sat there, grinning with ignorance. Todd gritted his teeth. A screwdriver floated by in the zero gravity.

"Why?" He asked.

"Why what?" Victor replied.

"You could go down in history as one of the first humans to talk to aliens, but you only think about killing them." Todd's voice cracked a bit as he talked. "Why can't you give these guys a chance?" Victor gave an incredulous smile, and bit his lower lip.

"Do you realize what will happen to humans everywhere?" Todd reached toward the wall behind him as Victor continued; "Religion, culture, all of it will be just ruined by the knowledge of these vermin. You have to understand Todd, we as humans just aren't ready for the news of aliens. Panic will skyrocket, chaos will erupt in the streets, and the world we have won't be anywhere same as what we left it." Victor turned to him. "I hope you don't think of me as a bad person, All I want is for the best for our species."

"The best for us?" Todd rarely got fired up as much as he was now. "You see these guys? What about the best for them? They managed to get here, what if they decided to bring friends, very armed friends?!"

"Todd, I'm not gonna ask you again. Get out of my way."

"And I said stand down." Todd got into Victor's face, as they floated there in the zero gravity.

"I warned you." And in a swift motion, Victor kicked with both feet, as he hung onto the ceiling, sending todd down the hallway, into a wall panel. Todd regained his handling on a rung, and pulled himself forwards toward Victor, grabbing a screwdriver in flight. Victor responded by pulling himself toward todd again, and they locked in combat. Unfortunately for todd, he had no training on how to fight, but he had seen karate movies, so he thought taking on a 40 year old man would have been no big deal. But Victor had military training, and regularly practiced mixed martial arts. Todd was getting a good fist pounding, and his face felt it, as well as his gut where there was a severe sharp stabbing pain. The screwdriver he had hoped to shank Victor with fell out somewhere and anytime he tried to get back from Victor, he would just be pulled back into another gut punch. They were both pushed into another part of a corridor, and Todd felt like slipping out of consciousness.

But then a saving grace came in the form of a scrawny russian man from behind victor, who grabbed victor's head and put him in a headlock.

"Anton!" Todd croaked. Victor's head became red as a tomato, and his mustache looked like it was going to pop off.

"An-ton, you russian… bast…" Victor didn't finish his last word and fell limp as his body floated in the weightlessness.

"I do not get paid enough for what I do." Anton muttered, and groaned. "You are injured. Come."

Todd looked down at the sharp stabbing pain in his side through his swollen eye.

"That's where the screwdriver went." He muttered, and realized the amount of blood that was seeping through his clothes.

Todd followed Anton, with difficulty, as the adrenaline began to wear off, and the pain began to show up in his side.

"Do not die. I need a witness to show I was saving your life." Anton said, and took off the jacket that Todd was wearing, to reveal a bloody mess. There were bruises all over and the screwdriver was pierced into the side of todd's gut.

"Idiot. You get stabbed by old man with screwdriver." Anton muttered something in russian, fiddled around with the first aid supplies and asked "Tell me, how does this smell like?" He held up a rag to Todd's nose, and he sniffed.

"Uhm, a bit sweet-smelling. Kind of like candy, A little... bit like… Alcohol…" And like that, todd was asleep.

_How he got to this situation, he will never know. But now a horde of infected were on his tail, and the only keeping him from death was his trusty shovel launcher. Todd rounded a corner, and fired off a few shovels from his weapon. But more and more kept appearing. He had to stop that fire engine siren. _

_He sprinted into the strip mall parking lot, and climbed on top of a truck to get to the roof. The infected kept appearing, but there was still a way out. he climbed through a roof access hatch on the roof of a shop, and dropped in. He stood up to find himself among a green smoke, and definitely not a liquor store. There was a strange clarity among the clouds, and nobody around. Todd called out for someone, but there wasn't an answer. So he turned around, and found himself with a very, very, beautiful woman. _

"_Todd Gibbs, age 28, 136 pounds, and hailing from… Portland, Oregon." She said. _

"_How- Who are you?" Todd asked._

"_First, I must apologize, for your station. That was not our intention to harm it. But my recently fallen brethren could not resist the taste of your guest's spacecraft." she kept her face hidden in her flowing red hair._

"_Our guests? You mean the aliens?" Todd asked._

"_Yes. They are a fairly young species. Called, Kerbals."_

"_Ker-bal. Huh. Sounds weird. Where are they from?"_

"_A distant planet, called Kerbin."_

"_Makes sense. But what are they doing here? And what are you doing here?"_

"_To help you, help them." She began to turn around, a veil covered her face._

"_Help them- Help how?" He asked, becoming worried._

"_Like this."_

_She took off the veil, revealing a face of pure darkness, and Todd peered into the void. The Darkness began to flash with colors, and lightning, reminiscent of the wormhole he saw earlier. Images flashed past his eyes, with increasing intensity and color, until it all stopped in a quick, single flash. He saw only darkness after that, but the disembodied voice of the woman remained:_

"_You are now the cipher. Use it well."_


	17. Good In Theory

Chapter 15 - Good in theory

Place: Back at Kerbin.

Jaxson knocked at the door labeled '791' in the bad part of town, where his old friend could be found. He and linus had been walking for a few miles, and were chilled by the cold of the evening. The door opened, and there stood a disgruntled-looking Kerbal, who had a light stubble, and the stench of liquor on his breath. His eyes looked sad as he talked,

"If you're from the Space Program, I don't want anything to do with you."

"Oliver? I know I'm probably the last person you'd want to talk to, and I'm sorry to intrude, but I need to talk with you." Oliver began to close the door on him, but linus stuck his foot in the way, so Jaxson could still talk. "Oliver, I know you're still mourning over your son, but we need to talk!"

"The only thing you scientists care about is getting to your next big achievement, and you don't care how many lives you throw away in the process!" Oliver shouted, as he pulled to door back to slam it again.

"Oliver! I know what it felt like!" He screamed back. "Sonrey was like a son to me too!"

Oliver slowly began to open the door, as Jaxson stepped forward. "It's tragic, I know. I've lost a great student, and the world has this empty spot, that I'll never be able to fill." Oliver listened, and his eyes began to water. "The deceased are not dead until we forget them, oliver. And trust me, we will NOT, forget Sonrey, or his friends." Oliver broke down crying on Jaxson's shoulder, and they sat down on the tattered sofa that sat stoutly in the living room.

After Oliver finished shedding his tears, they got to talking about the meeting they had earlier with the rest of the group. Oliver and Jaxson talked for an hour, and after which, He agreed to channel his anger toward the reason, not the messenger.

It was already dawn when he left the old house, and the sun began to poke out behind the hedgerows of trees and suburban houses. In three days time, they would execute the first phase of their plan, and now, they were against the clock.

-Four Days Until Launch-

"Well, there's no doubt that you've proved yourself as qualified, Mr…?"

"Oliver. My name is Oliver." Oliver said to the Secretary sitting behind the applications desk at the KSP.

"Okay, Oliver. I'll just- Oh wait, there he is now!" She called over a fellow wearing a black vest, with short blonde hair.

"What can I do for you Tara?" The fellow said.

"This is Oliver, He's applying for a position as an nuclear reactor engineer, and he'd like approval as soon as possible." he looked over Oliver, and held out his hand. "Gene Kerman, Pleased to meet you."

Gene.

It was him. The man that sent his son to his death. He should have killed the self appointed king right then and there. But not here. First, the royalty had to see their kingdom fall.

"Well met Gene." Oliver shook the hand, with a strong handshake, he wanted to crush every bit of bone in his hand. But oliver recalled the plan.

His part of the plan was to get the leader of the operation, Gene Kerman to trust him. Then from there, his cohorts, Douglas MacKerman, and Kalvin kerman, would gain his trust. They had to work quickly, as the launch was planned for four days later, and losing the three most influential celebrities on the planet was not going to be good for rebuilding KSP.

"Now, let me show you to the astronaut complex, where you'll be staying." Gene motioned toward the door, and they walked outside. As they walked, Oliver made smalltalk.

"So how's the KSP going? I haven't kept up much with the news lately." Gene straightened up his back, and he cleared his throat.

"Well, we lost a four man crew a week or so ago, all of which are presumed dead. And we've just gotten word that our complex has been budgeted. But no fear my new specialist, science will persevere." He smiled a crooked smile, as he waved his hand in the air.

"I see. Well, it sounds like you've been kept busy." Oliver replied. gritting his teeth as he thought about his son.

"Indeed, and what of you, Oliver? How qualified are you to build Nuclear reactors?" Gene asked, as the reached the doors of the complex.

"Well, I ran a car shop with my-" Oliver stopped. He couldn't let Gene know Sonrey was his son. "My- My- tools and Ingenuity." He recovered.

"Those are certainly… good things." Gene gave him a raised eyebrow. Then he stopped, as he opened the door. "Wait. Oliver. I remember now. You ran a car shop, called Oliver and Son, Right?" Oliver's heart skipped a beat, and he froze.

"_He's onto me." _

"Yeah, I remember, you had a son… Simon, was it?" Oliver let out a breath of relief, and played along.

"Yeah, yeah, Simon. He's my son." They entered the complex, and the sounds of drinking, and cheering filled the room. Gene led him to the sleeping quarters, where the doors labeled 'Engineering' stood. He stopped and turned to Oliver.

"Well, here you are. I hope you'll be on the ground crew for today's test launch?" Gene stuck his hand out again, and Oliver shook it.

"I will indeed, sir."

While Oliver was attending to Gene, Jaxson and Wernher were in the mission control room, among the rows of new computers, generously donated by the planet's rich persons.

"Can you hurry this up? I've only got two more minutes in here before the door locks." Werner pestered. He was looking about the empty chairs nervously.

"Look, I'm almost done. I just have to find the transmitting files, and override them with mine." Jaxson kept searching through the files, and he came upon a peculiar set of pictures. Opening them, he saw blueprints for… something. Too peculiar for a ship, but too large for a device. It had no doors or halls, so it wasn't a building, but it many sets of what looked like specifically cut crystals lining a narrow pipe, that ran from bottom to top. He copied the schematics to his flash drive, and, like a good omen, found the file he was searching for. He deleted it, and replaced it with his own.

"Are you finished? We have 30 seconds. Jaxson shut off the computer screen, nodded at wernher, and they left.

Meanwhile, Fred was knee deep in files, of bank records, letters, and statistics of casualty rates. His part of the mission was to find incriminating evidence against the KSP and it helped that he was also the bookkeeper for them. But no matter what he looked for, nothing seemed incriminating in the least. He sat on top a stack of papers that were labeled "Ship Components". He had looked at all the bank transfers, copied letters, and statistics, but except for the twenty foot tall solid gold statue of Charles F. Kerman, there wasn't any outstanding purchase, since the founding of KSP. Then, almost on cue, a knock came at the door.

"Oh Fiddlesticks!" he cursed the papers on the ground, and scurried over to the door.

Outside was a face he was not prepared or welcome to see, Douglas MacKerman. He had to maintain composure though, as he motioned for the general to enter.

"I need to retrieve some files on preparations for today's launch." He muttered. Clearly he was not looking for conversation. But that sparked an idea in his head.

"_The Mission files! Of course!" _He got a jolt of excitement, but waited patiently as Douglas retrieved the file, and left.

Back to the files, Fred scoured the Mission logs. Bingo! Bingo boards were among the mission files. But also there was just what he needed for the justice courts to do their work. It was still mildly disturbing, according to the files, every ship was predetermined for a failure or a success. Every one Jebediah, Bill, or Bob were on, was stamped with a big green check in the "Predetermined Outcome" Box. Hundreds were stamped with a big red 'X'. Including Milbo.

"_These men were purposefully sending good astronauts to their death!" _He nearly spoke out loud. The dirt was definitely out, and he began to photocopy the files.

Planet: This new-fangled "Earth"

Ozbon had gathered the team in a huddle.

"Okay. So we all know that getting home is our top priority, yeah?" They all nodded, and he continued, "And all we know about these, things is that they are ruthlessly barbaric and uncivilized, agreed?" They all nodded again. "Okay. So at this point in time, I'm open to any ideas. Milbo?"

Milbo just shrugged.

"Fletcher?"

"Well, I had an idea. If we got here because of that special fuel we used, perhaps we could use the same fuel to get back?" He looked at Milbo.

"We did have a quarter tank left when we were sucked in. It would be possible to burn that much to possibly, and I can't believe i'm saying this, attract a kracken." They all shivered at the thought.

"But what about reentry fire?" Sonrey asked. "Burning at 7800 degrees, isn't how I want to die."

"I could take the ablative plating off the old ship, and re-configure the polarity transceiver module to emit a large Beta-wave frequency that should counteract the effects of the heat on our exposed suits." He was met with blank stares.

"That's... Really? Will that work?" Milbo asked.

"Hah! No. I have no idea what I just said. I'll just give you all a railing and hope you don't let go." Ozbon clapped his hands.

"Sounds like a plan! Everyone know what you're doing? Milbo, Fletcher, You two are with me on getting the parts. and sonrey, you need to be our translator."

"Communication? With those things? Is that even possible?" Sonrey asked.

"We have to tell them what we need to get home, right? I figure you're best for that kind of thinking, and I need to help Fletcher on the ship." Ozbon floated over to where his helmet was at, and picked it up.

"You're right, I know you are, It's just a bit daunting, to learn a language on such short notice." He said.

"Hey, if it wasn't difficult, where's the fun in that?" Milbo chimed in, as he put on his helmet to go through the airlock.

"My thoughts exactly, just don't screw it up." Fletcher joked.

The three left out the airlock, and Sonrey floated around for a bit, trying to find where the alien had gone off to. Eventually, he found it, floating limp in the air.

"_Please don't be dead." _He thought to himself, as he shook the alien. But he wasn't, and he flailed about, yelling,

"SWEATY SHOE, SWEATY SHOE, SWEATY SHOE!" Sonrey grabbed his arm, and tried to stop him, but was flung to the wall in the frenzy.

"PLEASE STOP YELLING SWEATY… Wait... You can speak to me?"


	18. The Long Haul

Chapter 16 - The Long Haul

Place: Kerbin

The group of disgruntled old Kerbals were gathered late that evening discussing the evidence they had collected, but this time, they had a visitor. Zil Kerman, KBI investigator, who had been looking at the evidence.

"Well, what you've gathered here is pretty much Irrefutable." he stated, then scratched his chin. The others were ecstatic, exchanged glowing smiles and shook hands.

"We even have a man on the inside, Oliver Kerman." Jaxson chimed in. "And as you can see, there's no reason for you to take immediate action."

Zil stood up, and closed the folder. He put on his jacket, sighed, scratched his chin again, and said "I can think of one."

At that instant, the garage was swarmed with armed KBI agents, poised at the group.

"WHAT IN KERBIN'S NAME IS GOING ON!?" an incredulous Werner yelled.

"Simple." Zil responded. "The KSP warned the KBI and parliamentary about a group of rogue scientists gone mad with delusions of something like this." he pulled out a pair of handcuffs, and slapped them on Jaxson. The others were rounded up as well.

"No! You can't do this!" he yelled, "Who-" He began to ask, but saw him out of the corner of his eye, standing there, shaking hands with Zil. "OLIVER!" He struggled with the officer holding his arms behind his back, turning to face Oliver. "Why would you betray us?"

"They told me they can bring back my son." He said, turned, and walked into the darkness. Jaxson screamed his name, but it was no use. His heart, broken, the plan, completely foiled, and worst of all, there was nothing he could do, as he and the others were pushed into the back of the KBI van.

Place: Earth

Todd Felt… Different. Like his head had been hit over the head with a two by four. He saw one of the aliens… Kerbals… Clutching the wall. He asked what happened, and the most peculiar thing happened. He got a response.

"You, uh. Went a bit crazy there." It said.

Todd's heart skipped a beat. There's no way he could possibly understand it. Or was there? That dream, was… Vivid, and he felt an urge to keep talking.

"So. You're a Kerbal, huh?" He asked. He no longer cared if it was violating half the planet's rules and regulations on first contact.

"Yeah, uhm. You can understand me?" It asked.

"I guess. I don't know how though. Awfully convenient though." He rubbed the sore spot on his head. "You got a name?"

"Mine? Sonrey. Sonrey Kerman. Yours?"

"Todd Gibbs."

They both sat there for a minute unsure of what to do next. Sonrey broke the silence.

"So. Ever been taken to an alien world before?" Todd gave a chuckle. "Hey, I was being serious. Your kind seems to have lots of interesting technology."

"If we were half as technologically advanced as I wish we were, I wouldn't be here." he retorted.

"And just how advanced is that?"

"Oh I dunno. Phasers, Mass relays, Warp Drives, Lightsabers, you name it, I wish we had it."Todd looked longfully into the corridor.

"Phasers? Warp drives? What? You're sounding like Fletcher."

"Who?" Todd asked, and motioned to follow him.

"My crewmate. My friends are Ozbon, Fletcher and Milbo." Todd turned the corner, and nodded at Anton, who just gave a weary sigh and turned back to the clump of wires. They arrived at his bunk.

"What's this?" Sonrey inquired.

"My bunk, And my stuff." He said motioning toward his rubik's cube.

"Sorry. Did you want the cube back?" Sonrey reached into his pocket and gave it back.

"Thanks." He put it back in the bunk, and grabbed a little plastic stick, turned and gave it to Sonrey.

"What is it?" Sonrey asked.

"A little something I want to give your people. A gift, if you may." He took it back, and pointed to it. "We call them, thumb drives. Inside, you'll find a language tool, something you can use to speak english."

"En-glish?" He inquired.

"It's what I usually speak. Before that dream lady… Nevermind." Todd looked about and said a few words in his language. Anton looked at him, sighed, and shook his head. "I want you to promise me that you'll teach your people using these." Sonrey looked at the little drive, and felt honored to receive it. He thought hard about the request.

"I promise you, Todd Gibbs. I Will." he paused. "But why do you have a thumb drive of all this in your bunk?"

"In case I met you guys, obviously." he chuckled.

"You seem awfully happy, Todd." Sonrey noted.

"Dude. I've just made first contact with an alien species. That's like every nerd's dream. Of course i'm ecstatic." He beamed a smile.

Over the next few hours, Ozbon, Milbo and Fletcher had removed the heat shielding from the ship's reentry pod, and with the help of some tools borrowed from the station, they built a large half dome with a tail cone to keep the face down during re-entry. They had very little fuel remaining, so if the theory of kraken attraction was true, it would have to work the first time. Milbo rigged up a quick engine using every bit of spare parts they could find. It got to the point where the ship they arrived in was no longer one, and now a skeleton. To prevent all the air from being sucked out of the station, they had to eject the ship, and work on it a few hundred meters off of it's hull. Sonrey never talked to anyone outside of the station, but according to the human's friend 'Anton', someone in the news found out from someone who heard something from someone else, and now the entire planet was scrambling to find a group of people to contact him. He cared not though, as he found Todd an agreeable enough person, and interesting person in general.

-Three Days Until Launch-

After seven hours of working, the three working on the ship deemed it impossible to improve the design any longer, and they all met in the station for some final goodbyes.

When they got in however, they were surprised to find the alien speaking in a language they all understood, but they only heard:

"So you say, if I do this, I can buy a whole goat?" It asked, and noticed the three of them. "Hey, look who returned! Sonrey told me of your plan, and I just want to wish you all good luck." Sonrey looked at them proudly.

"Todd, these are my friends, Ozbon, Milbo and Fletcher, Friends this is Todd. He's a human." They all nodded and said hello. Sonrey told them all about the humans, all about their culture, like Mythology, capitalism, Detroit. Ozbon and Milbo noticed the smile that Sonrey got when he started to talk about the humans. It was a glow that reminded them of when he used to talk about space.

"Sonrey, if I may?" Ozbon motioned to move off to the corner, and they both floated over. "We've done all we can to the ship, and I honestly don't know if it'll be enough. But with no way to be sure, Milbo wants to get back as soon as possible." Ozbon looked worried. Understandable in his situation, he continued, "I know you've always wanted to get away from Kerbin, and I was wondering if you… Wanted to stay on earth?"

Sonrey put his hand on Ozbon's shoulder. The suit was cold, from the recent vacuum of space.

"Ozbon, I know I've never been a fan of kerbin, I've never been homesick, and I thought It was just because I hated Kerbin. But I've always loved space, and for the first time of my life, space seems just too big at the moment. Believe it or not, Kerbin is still my home, and we all need to get back." Ozbon looked at him, confused. "Yes. I'll be joining you."

"Excellent!" he replied. "I'm sure the parliamentary will give us all medals for what we've done."

"I just hope we haven't caused too much worry. But imagine the look of them when we land back at KSP. We'll probably be even bigger heroes than Jebediah." They both gave a chuckle.

"Sorry to interrupt your little moment, but we need to get going." Milbo chimed in.

"So soon?" Sonrey looked longingly at the walls of the station.

"Yes, soon. That angry alien woke up. He's banging on the closet door." and on cue, the alien had punched through the locked closet, a single hand reaching out as he mumbled something, muffled by the duct tape.

"Ah. Very valid." Ozbon said, reaching for his helmet, and the others followed. Todd looked quickly around for the fire extinguisher, but it was nowhere to be seen.

"Great, Victor's waking up." he motioned to them and said,"You guys have to get out of here. Now."

"Is he particularly dangerous?" Fletcher asked, and Todd said,

"You guys have never seen an angry Canadian, have you?"

"I thought you said you were a Human?" Sonrey asked.

"Long story. You have a planet to get back to, now go." Victor pushed out the barricade they had made, sending bits of plastic door all over the place. Todd's face whitened and he yelled, "GO!"

They heeded the warning, and scurried toward the airlock, first Milbo, then Ozbon, Fletcher, and Sonrey, who was putting the drive in his pocket. A hand reached out to grab sonrey, and it pulled him back to the opposite wall, where the drive bounced and ricocheted out of his grasp. The "Victor" was tied in a wrestle with Todd, they crashed the airlock door closed, and pushed from side to side. Sonrey pushed himself off toward the drive that stopped in the corner, and retrieved it promptly. Todd was pushed into Sonrey as he got hooked up on a bit of metal. The more competent Anton body tackled Victor, and Todd joined back in the struggle. Sonrey scooched over to the airlock door, and pressed the button to open it. The door was slowly opening, and the fight raged on, so he began to press it faster. After what seemed like forever, the airlock opened back up. They were all gathered up in the decompression room, as the atmosphere was being sucked out. The four of them exchanged confirming nods, and the vacuum of space opened before them.


	19. The End, Soon to be Nigh

Chapter 17 - The End, Soon to be Neigh

The space was as vast as it was back home, Sonrey gazed at the emptiness that spanned beyond the horizon of Earth. He wondered how they would be received, when they got home. That little green devil of jealousy was satisfied at the thought of finally besting the undying Jebediah Kerman. He also thought back to how todd was doing, but the vacuum of space made it impossible to hear anything inside the station.

"C'mon Son-man, don't space out on us so soon!" Milbo said, and chuckled at the pun. Sonrey looked up and saw the other three heading toward the ramshackle craft that held the last precious fuel. It was certainly ingenious. They built a half-dome out of the old cockpit, and strapped an aerodynamic tail to the interior of the dome to provide some drag for the decent. It was a long shot, but it was the only way home. It was a strange feeling, homesickness. He never felt it before now. But he wiped his mind of the thoughts, grabbed his EVA pack contols, and began to rocket over.

"You think this'll work, Fletcher?" Ozbon asked, strapping himself into the seat.

"Duct tape hasn't failed me yet. We used to build entire ships out of it at one point. Granted, all those ships failed horribly, but still. I'd trust it."

"Great." Milbo said "If we die horribly, I want my grave to say you did it."

"Noted."

The inside had a railing that traveled the perimeter of the dome, to hold onto, in case the seats failed, and they got pulled out. Again, this ship was a long shot.

They all strapped into the seats, and let loose the anchor to the station. It pulled back to the hull and knocked against the airlock.

"Before I forget," Fletcher piped up, "Our batteries were drained. So we won't have any stability control over the ship." It didn't take a psychic to feel the disbelief from the others.

"And you tell this us now, why?" Sonrey asked.

No response.

"Well?" Ozbon asked.

"Darn good question." Fletcher said. The silence hung around for a bit. "We should get going." Everyone agreed, and Milbo got ready to punch the throttle.

"Hold on everyone!" The Kerbonauts grabbed the handlebars on the inside, and Sonrey held his breath.

In an instant, the ship began to vibrate with such ferocity, Sonrey's hands went numb from the movement. The ship spiraled, corkscrewed, and looped throughout the space nearby the station, nobody was sure where the craft was heading, but Milbo let loose a cheer of pure adrenaline, and they were, for the time being at least, alive. A few short seconds of thrust later, and the shaking stopped. No kracken. Nothing to indicate a sign that the plan worked.

"Give it a few seconds." Ozbon said. "I'm not planning on dying on this alien world."

A minute passed. Nothing.

"Do you think we used it all?" Milbo asked.

"Certainly hope so. I can't imagine why it wouldn't have worked." Fletcher kicked the tank, and it shook the craft violently.

"Perhaps there's a clog in the system?" Ozbon chimed in.

Sonrey looked up at the tank, then at Fletcher, who appeared upside down while he was on his back.

"Maybe we missed something? Something else that would have attracted the Kraken?" Milbo kept pushing and pulling the throttle lever, but to no use. It was done for. Sonrey leaned his head against the chair and kicked the hull out of frustration. He saw himself in the reflection.

He also saw a figure in the back, certainly no Kerbal.

"Guys?" Sonrey said, voice cracking.

"Yeah, what is-" Ozbon stopped.

There it loomed. Tentacles primed. The mouth that led to the void. The Kraken had gotten whiff of the fuel.

"It worked!" Sonrey yelled, but his ecstatic feelings were replaced with the chill of fear when they were slowly sucked into the gaping mouth of the Beast.

"Guys, I want to tell you something." Milbo uttered, a lump in his throat. "If we don't live. It was a great ride."

"Likewise." they all replied, and let the beast slowly inhale the ship they sat upon. Sonrey closed his eyes, and prayed that it wouldn't be the last time.

He held them closed for at least a minute, when a hushed, unintelligible but certainly feminine voice pierced the helmet he wore, and he sat up with a jolt, opening his eyes. It was a very bright white.

_Gravity._

"_How is there gravity in space?" _He thought to himself.

"Guys?" he yelled at his comrades. "Are you seeing this?"

"They cannot hear you." the female's voice said again. His seat was unbuckled, and he was lifted off the chair. "Greetings. Sonrey." His body was rotated to face the voice. It was a very charming Kerbal, indeed. Adorned in a white and gold robe, she lowered Sonrey to the ground with an invisible force. "We've met before, my name is Eletha. I am the speaker for my kind." Sonrey took a second to think and then it hit him.

"You're the woman from my dream!" he said with startling confidence.

"Yes, I am the one who spoke to you then." she held open her palm, motioning to the infinite white space. "This is where our kind live. Between worlds."

"You say your 'kind' do you mean the Kraken?"

"Yes, You might refer to us as that. Although we have no self designated identity, we are the Krakens in which you speak." Sonrey looked back at the ship, that reminded him,

"What about my friends? Are they alright?" the world appeared to shift twenty meters over to look at the pod, and Eletha Reached her hand through Milbo's face plate, who was giving his signature beaming smile, eyes shut tight.

"They are in perfect health, I assure you. However the perception of time as you know it, would make the trip instantaneous for anyone other than you." Eletha took her hand back.

"So, what you say is, time's stopped?" Sonrey looked around the pure white atmosphere of the world.

"In a manner of speaking, yes. However, I wish not to waste your time." She took Sonrey's hand, and led him away a few more meters. "Last time we tried to talk, you were struck over the head, and I could not communicate with you slipping in and out of consciousness."

"Why am I so special?" Sonrey inquired. "Why not Ozbon? Or Milbo? Or even Jebediah Kerman?"

"Because you were chosen to be the spokesperson for your kind. A messenger for our people." Eletha put her hand on his shoulder, and he felt an ethereal presence.

"That… Still doesn't answer my question." She laughed at the comment and said,

"It is because you are the only one who might be able to live with the trials that face you. Your friend Milbo, lives dangerously, always a demon for that extra thrill, never thinks, always reacts, As though he were always running from something. Ozbon, lives with a regret that he may have lost anything that ever mattered to him, because he never thought for himself. He was the best warrior on your planet, and the best only follow orders." Sonrey's heart shook, but a veil was lifted from his eyes, and as he peered into the static face of his friends, he could almost see the pain they held inside. "And fletcher," She motioned over. "Is not all He seems to be. Do not forget that."

"So, what you say is that I'm a pure specimen." Sonrey said.

"Certainly not. Our mistakes make us who we are, no matter the creature." Eletha Walked around the pod that sonrey was looking into, and said. "All I say, is that it is you who kept one thing that these lost over their life. The fire that burns hotter than any engine. Your curiosity, and your youth… it also helps that you're one of the few on your planet that we can talk to."

Sonrey looked up, and exhaled.

"I-I'm flattered. I think." Eletha smiled and nodded.

"I know you are." She chuckled.

"But I assume you didn't pull me out of my dimension just to tell me that I'm special?" Sonrey countered.

"Correct. I want you to know that our Kind are not the sort to attack innocents at our pleasure. But that chemical formula you've created…" she motioned to the tank.

"You mean our fuel?" Sonrey asked

"Yes, the synthetic fuel your kind had created has an unnatural tendency to make us… Very hungry." She said, almost sounding ashamed. "You see, our kind receives nutrition when physical matter passes very close to our dimension. We only eat space rocks, and we never would eat a living thing unless…" She began

"...unless it was something really appetizing." Sonrey finished.

"Exactly. It's not too far off from a dog eating anti-freeze." She said.

"A what?" Sonrey asked.

"Right. Wrong species. Disregard that." She shook her head and continued, "But that is the least of your worries at the moment. I can hold the hunger back for a day in your time, but you must work quickly. A war is brewing on your planet."

"Pardon? Did you- A war?" Sonrey sputtered in disbelief. "Between who?"

"Your planet, and my people, but you must understand It is not our wish to do anything to harm you."

"What have we done? Why can't you tell your people to move off?" Sonrey's heart began to pump, so Eletha sighed and began to tell the story.

The fuel Kerbin created began an increase of Kraken sightings, with the first one being the Contender, and after sonrey's crew, they began to shoot them out of space. The fuel was becoming more and more potent as Kerbin made different compounds of it. They were harvested in their matter form, and this enraged the millions of kraken throughout the universe, as the last time a kraken was murdered was a millennia ago. Eletha told them it was only fair that Kerbin have justice for the Contender's crew. The agreed, and forgave the incident. But since Sonrey came through, Over twenty kracken have been killed and harvested for whatever they wanted off of them. Sonrey couldn't believe his ears, and wished it all to be one cruel joke. His own people? How?

"Do you understand why we need you now? I cannot live with the responsibility of your entire planet's death, and who knows how many other-"

The vast white expanse suddenly shifted to a flashing dark red, like an alarm. "Oh no. There isn't much time. You must go, NOW!" Eletha lifted sonrey, put him back into the chair he arrived in, and strapped the seat belt in.

"I thought you said time stops in here? What's the big rush?" Sonrey asked.

"For your perception, yes. But remember that ours is wildly different, always changing. Unable to explain it to you in the short time we have, but three days have passed in your time." She held out her hand, and an orb floated into it. A thought hit Sonrey.

"What about the humans? I believe our arrival messed up their entire planet, and I'd rather not be the one responsible for that." He looked up at Eletha as he tightened up the straps.

"Don't worry. I'll wipe the memory of this from everyone, and replace it with some other crisis, like politics, or a celebrity breakup."

"Sounds good. Hey, when this is all done, call me up in a dream or something, yeah?" Sonrey said with a half-smile, and Eletha smiled back.

"I Will. I also wish you luck, Sonrey Kerman."

In an instant, The flashing red world disappeared, and was replaced by space. Gone, all in an instant, and Sonrey felt queasy with the sudden change in gravity.

"Are we alive?" A voice asked. Milbo! Sonrey let out a breath of air, and said,

"It's great to hear your voice, Milbo."

"Likewise, What about you two?" He asked

"Yep!" Fletcher chimed.

"Right here." Ozbon said.

"In that case, let's get home and get those medals. Sound like a plan?" Milbo Joked and they all let out a laugh of relief. But a few seconds of searching later, and they realized they had no idea where home was.

"Perhaps, it's behind us?" Sonrey suggested.

Before anyone could answer, Two objects, darker than night seemed to fly past them.

"_Oh no." _Sonrey thought. His fears were being confirmed.

They wiggled in the craft, and used their EVA packs to rotate the roofless pod. But what they saw was wrenching. Only a hundred thousand kilometers off the ground, the peninsula of the KSP was in clear view. But it glowed orange with a fire that spread across a good amount of the land surrounding it. Large hulking shadows drifted toward it, and smoke blotted out part of the disaster. They all looked on in shock and awe, watching brilliant flashes of light shoot across the ground.

"She was right." Sonrey mumbled. "Kerbin is… Under siege…" There was a long pause before he continued. "We have to get down there. Milbo?"

Milbo looked over at Sonrey and nodded. "Seeing as how we're stationary, It'll just be a matter of aiming." He began to use his EVA pack to rotate the ship parallel to the planet. With no reaction wheels, the ship wobbled under the zero-g environment and keeping it aimed was tricky, but in a minute or two, milbo got the ship's dome facing prograde. "Okay, on my mark, I want all of you to _very_ slowly thrust down. Got it?" They all confirmed, and he began his stopwatch. "Mark." With that, they began the slow descent.

-One day earlier-

Jaxson was enjoying a windowside meal from the lovely view of his cell. In the distance, he saw the launch of Bill, Bob, and Jeb. He knew it was too late. when a guard came by, and pushed Wernher into it with him.

"Good to see you in one piece." Jaxson muttered, mouth full of food.

"Likewise." He took off his glasses and wiped them down with his shirt. "I can't believe Oliver would double cross us like that."

"I know. But right now all we can do is lay low. They'll have to see the corruption for themselves, they have to." Jaxson licked the spoon and tossed the plate on the ground. "But we must remain patient. What happened to the others?" Jaxson hopped off the top bunk to stand face-to-face with wernher.

"Other complexes, as far as I can tell." Wernher put the glasses back on. "But we mustn't lose hope, there still might be a chance to have a hearing with-"

"They don't care." Jaxson interrupted. "We tried to help, but we failed, and now whatever happens, is their own fault." He walked over to the bars, and leaned up against them, looking into the hallway of cells.

"This isn't like you, Jaxson. I know you. You always say that no matter how bad a mess is, it can be fixed." Wernher's upper lip quivered as he spoke. "I know Sonrey was like a son to you, but-"

"THIS ISN'T ABOUT SONREY!" He yelled, and an inmate yelled to keep quiet. Jaxson walked up, took Wernher by the lapels and growled "My daughter was on that ship."

Wernher took a step back, and let it sink in.

"A daughter? I had no idea you had- I'm so sorry, I-I had no idea."

"Don't worry about Aziza. She's in a better place now." Jaxson waved it off.

"How come you never told anyone?" Wernher asked, and Jaxson sighed, looking somberly at the floor tiles.

"Women have never been allowed at the KSP, says it's only a male's job. Well we were out to prove that any girl could go out and perform with the best of them. I heard they were planning to send a trip to the Mun, and well, we couldn't say no. She was going to tell the world in a broadcast scheduled that evening her real identity, and we figured it would change their mind. But now," he laughed. "Now she's gone." His laughter slowly trailed off into sorrow and Wernher slowly stepped over to console him.

"We might still have a chance to avenge her." Wernher said. "You can't lose hope."

"I've already lost my daughter, my job, and my best student. What else do I have to lose?" Tears swelled up in his eyes, and he struck the bars with his arm out of despair.

"Jaxson." Wernher stepped forward, putting his hand on his shoulder, but batted it away and walked back to the bunk.

"I wish- I just wish I had seen it coming." Jaxson sat down on the cell bunk, wiping tears off his face. "We did everything right, and still failed. What kind of world is that?"

"Life."

A few hours passed in silence before they felt the first tremor. Soon thereafter a group of men came to their cell. They dressed like they were a, suspicious, cloak and dagger sort, and they greeted the pair quickly.

"We're with the KIA." they said.

"You're… Killed in action?" Wernher asked, confused. The second Kerbal shook his head and said,

"Ah, no. The Kerbin Intelligence Agency. We get that a lot." He handed Wernher a business card that read:

"_If we told you what was on this business card, we'd have to kill you."_

"I see you guys mean business." He replied. "Care to tell us what you're doing here?"

"We hear you had dirt on the KSC. We want to know what you know." The first one growled.

"Alright, but what is this all-" Wernher was interrupted by another tremor, more powerful than the last.

"THAT, is what this is all about." They said. "The KSC has refused to give us access to the space tracking center, and our limited radar showed something out there. Something big, like a-"

"Kraken?" Jaxson piped up.

"How did-" they began, but Jaxson just pointed out the window and said,

"They're here."

Outside the cell, the monsters rained from the sky and crushed statues, schools and orphanages, they sucked entire blocks up into their gaping mouths that tore apart the very ground. Fires began to break out and one could hear screams from the towns.

Before anyone could say a thing, the roof that stood four floors up cracked and crumbled as the ground shook. The KIA agents were too slow, and truly became KIA. Prisoners were let loose as the bars rattled off their welds and collapsed.

"WE HAVE TO MOVE!" Wernher shouted, moving rubble out of the way to get out of the cell.

"Right behind you!" Jaxson flung off the bed and they got to work moving the rubble, in a minute they cleared enough to squeeze through and emerged to a mad house. Guards and prisoners fought for control of the prison, but through the knocked-out wall, Jaxson could see the smoke from the KSC peninsula rise in the sky. There was a concrete column that rested against the wall. "C'mon Wernher, Up the column!" He yelled.

They climbed up to the roof where the chaos was even more apparent. A guard tower had been downed and made a hole where prisoners were pouring out of. The only problem was that it was four stories down with no real method of getting down.

"How are we going to get down?" Wernher asked, popping his back back into place. Jaxson looked about and noticed a downed telephone wire that led to the guard tower still standing.

"That." He said, and looted a pair of carabiners off of a dead guard. "Sorry friend, we need to use these now."

"Are you sure this will be safe?" Wernher yelled over the commotion of the jailbreak.

"We don't have that luxury right now!" He yelled and clipped the carabiner to the wire and began to slide, with Wernher close behind.

He reached the tower and dropped off into the nest of it. Wernher however, let go too late and fell into the roof, but he held on.

"That was close." Jaxson muttered, but before he could take a breath, the tower began to crack and splinter. "Oh no." The tower slowly descended, and accelerated but the pair of them tried to stay on top of the free fall. It sped up and they crashed down hard, rolling to a stop on top of a large semi-truck. Wernher let out a bloodcurdling scream and yelled

"MY LEG! I CAN'T FEEL MY LEG!" Jaxson walked over and took the plank of wood he was holding from his arms. He stood up from the rubble, embarrassed, and muttered;

"I see. Thank you for that. What now?"

"Well we have to get to the KSC, The KIA needs that satellite information, and they could use that info to protect the capital." Jaxson walked over to the cabin and stepped down to the window, smashing it in. "But you need to go to the KIA to secure a connection when I send it to you, okay?" A Kraken bellowed in the distance, smashing houses as its arms destroyed various civic buildings.

"You're going to the KSC alone? I know you're distraught, but now you've gone just plain suicidal!" Wernher climbed down, and grabbed Jaxson by his orange jumpsuit. "Don't be so rash!" Jaxson batted the hands off him, and hopped into the cab, brushing glass off the seat.

"I'm taking a calculated risk!" He yelled as he began to hotwire the semi. "The simple fact is that we have a problem, and I know the solution; now you can be a part of it, or not!" The semi roared to life and he poked his head out the broken window. "You know how I've made a mess of things all my life, so please, just let me clean this up for once." His eyes begged Wernher, and he gave in.

"Alright," He sighed "But how do I get to the KIA? I don't even know where it is!"

"They have a truck right there." He pointed, and sure enough, a big black SUV sat there, windows broken. "Find a radio, tell them who you are, and they'll come get you."

"You'd better be right." Wernher started off, then turned, asking, "Wait. Where did you learn to hotwire a truck?" Jaxson began to answer, but stopped, and said,

"Y'know, that's a good question. I'm not actually sure how I did that." they both shrugged, and Jaxson pulled out of the parking lot, smashing through a shrubbery.

A few minutes later on the road, it was already night, and Jaxson saw the full magnitude of the Kraken invasion. The roads were no longer reliable, as they ate holes out of the pavement, letting them fill with sewage and water. The sky was black, and it blotted out the evening sun, from the smoke that filled the sky, but you could still see more Kraken fall from the sky, like an aerial maelstrom of chaos. The Semi truck was useful for plowing through piles of scrap and junk that littered the road, but it was taking a beating as it drove, and the cargo in back shifted from side to side. But Jaxson was nearly there, he turned the corner which connected to the one winding road that led to the KSC, and the big Vehicle Assembly Building was in sight. But fate had other plans. A Kraken, bigger than the Mun and darker than night itself, crashed down upon his path. It had giant eyes that most likely sought him as food, but he could not be sure.

"_I have to get by him!" _He thought. But there was no where to go. A detour would be too long, and he didn't have much time. But there was a space, just big enough for a truck of his size to fit into… Right under his legs.

"DO YOU WANT ME, YOU TOTTERING, MILK-LIVERED, SCUT?" He yelled out of the cabin, and revved up his engine. "Well come and get me." He muttered, too quiet for the Kraken, but it took the insult to heart, and slowly began lumbering toward Jaxson. He put the truck into gear, and barreled down the road, swerving to miss the potholes in the road. He turned sharp to the left, missing a wrecked car, then again to the right, to miss a bunny. A big tentacle came down, nearly hitting the cab, but ripping off the back of the cargo container. Inside a large amount of something that looked like liquid silver spilled out, along with a large jug of water, that all fell out into the road behind him.

"_Oh no."_ He thought. It looked like a crate of Sodium-potassium alloys, which when mixed with water were highly explosive. Like, REALLY, explosive. Jaxson put the truck into final gear, as the cargo container came loose and fell off the back, tumbling to a stop. The ceiling began to cave down, and he only had a few more seconds until he got out from underneath the Kraken. Putting his foot all the way on the gas, the Truck whined as it strained under the acceleration of the gas pedal, but There was only a couple hundred more meters. "C'mon, C'mon!" He yelled at the truck, and it reluctantly began to redline as the RPM hit maximum. The Kraken neared closer to the cab, and his smokestack was ripped off as he just barely escaped the slow death by squashing.

"YEAH-HA!" He yelled back at the kraken, and the truck sighed a breath of relief as he took the foot off the pedal. Looking behind, he heard a series of 'Thuds'; All those reactive metals, mixed with water, were taking effect. Sure enough, below the space of the beast, an admittedly beautiful set of red sparks lit underneath. It was followed by one very last, and very big 'Bang', sending the kraken up in flames and sparkles. But the joy was short-lived, as the field just outside the KSC had now caught fire.

"I'm sure it's okay." He muttered to himself, And drove through the barricade into the KSC's parking lot.

It took fifteen minutes to reach the doors of the Radar Complex. There were guards all around the facility, and it looked like they were a private military company of some sort, but where they got one, is anybody's guess. Whatever their origin, he had spent many minutes ducking and hiding to keep out of sight, and he now found himself under a box outside the entrance. He began formulate a brilliant plan to sneak in unnoticed, but under the box, he heard the banter of the armed guards in front of the door.

"Why aren't we out fighting these Aliens?" One said.

"Yeah, we should be out there, not guarding this door." The second one grumbled.

"Hey, where do you want this box of spare uniforms and ID cards?"

A third Kerbal, most likely a construction worker, held up a box as big as him.

"Uhh, over there on top of that other box." The second one said.

"_Brilliant."_ Jaxson thought. He couldn't move, otherwise he'd be noticed, and he couldn't sneak out the back of the box either. He listened to the thud of the box being placed on him, and sniffed the air. Smoke. Apparently the guards smelt it too, because the ran off into the building. It also became quite hot. But at least the guards were gone, so he pushed off the box and gasped in surprise. The field of well-manicured, evenly cut, green grass was now, to say the least, apocalyptic. Everything was covered in flames, the grass, now a field of an orange-red blaze. There were droves of Kraken now, falling upon the cities, and three were only a kilometer or two away. A wrecked spaceship, (Which he could only assume was the craft of Bill, Bob and Jebediah,) Laid amongst the flames, and appeared to be slowly melting, but he had to stay focused. He shook his head, grabbed a set of fatigues and headed inside the building.

When he entered, he was intrigued to see nobody around. There wasn't any time to dawdle however, the KIA needed the telemetry from the radar.

A few corridors later, and he burst through the locked door of the tracking station. There wasn't a computer in sight. There was however a little note stuck to the administrator's desk that read:

_Dear entire KSP staff: Unless told otherwise, you are now fired. Also, we've commandeered all the computers for use in the VAB for no particular reason. No need for alarm._

_Sincerely, _

_Charles F. Kerman_

"Charles!" he yelled, as it all made sense to him now. That middle man, the one behind the shadows, the blackmailer, the commanding, bellowing voice. He knew that voice from somewhere, but never was able to pick it out, until now. It was the head honcho, the big cheese, Mr. Charles F. Kerman himself. But how did Gene fit into all of this? The other two voices were both too angry or too wimpy to be his. Perhaps they went after the wrong man? No. Impossible. Or was it? It was only when the roof began to crack and crumble that he remembered doomsday was imminent. Turning, he broke into a sprint down the hallway as the walls began to fall apart, sparks flew, then ultimately, caved in.


End file.
